Buried Secrets
by cleotheo
Summary: When writer, Cho Chang, is found dead in her house, the investigation team of Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger must unravel a thirty year old mystery if they are to solve her murder. Mystery story set in the same universe as Femme Fatale.
1. Prologue

**A/N – Buried Secrets is set in the same universe as Femme Fatale and takes place about two years later. I would recommend reading Femme Fatale first, as it explains the dynamics of the characters and there are a few mentions of the case they solved in that story.**

 **As for this story,** **it has 18 chapters, including the prologue and epilogue and** **updates will be Tuesday and Thursday. In these stories things happened pretty much the same as in the books, but there is a character alive in this story that died in the books. However, when I checked Femme Fatale there was no mention of their fate so I was able to include them as they're vital to the story. I hope people enjoy this story.**

* * *

 **Prologue.**

Cho Chang was in a hopeful mood as she headed towards the cottage belonging to the former Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold. Cho was meeting the former Minister to discuss her time in charge of the wizarding world for a new book she was writing. Six months ago, Cho had been commissioned to write a book about Britain's most memorable Ministers for Magic. The project had interested Cho as she specialised in writing about wizarding history, but so far she'd experienced a bit of a mixed bag when it came to her research.

Some of the former Ministers were long dead, but she'd had varied experiences with those that still lived. Some had been interesting and full of stories she could include in her book, whereas some had been terrible bores and said very little of interest. One of the worst offenders had been the last person Cho had interviewed, Cornelius Fudge. Fudge was still bitter over the way he'd lost his job, and even though he'd presided over an eventful time in the wizarding world, all he was interested in talking about was himself and his own misfortunes.

Cho was hoping Millicent Bagnold would be better, especially as she'd also presided over an interesting period of history. Millicent had been Minister for Magic when Voldemort had fallen for the first time. She'd then witnessed some of the most fascinating criminal cases in history as several of Voldemort's Death Eaters had been caught and tried following his disappearance.

When Cho reached the cottage of the former Minister her first impressions were positive. Despite Millicent's increasing age, she still seemed sprightly and there was an intelligent spark in her eyes. Greeting Cho warmly, Millicent ushered her into the front room and they settled down on chintzy armchairs to talk. Millicent already had a pot of tea and a selection of cakes on the table between the two chairs, so there would be no need for either of them to get up for a while.

"Thank you very much for agreeing to talk to me," Cho said as Millicent poured two cups of tea.

"It's my pleasure," Millicent replied. "It's not often I get to talk about my days as Minister. My family have heard all my stories before, so they're just not interested these days."

"I'm definitely interested in your stories," Cho said brightly. "Do you mind if I record our conversation?" she asked as she removed a magical recorder from her bag. "I don't like to misquote people, so this way I can make sure I'm telling the right story."

"You can do whatever you wish, Miss Chang," Millicent replied.

"Call me Cho," Cho said as she set up the recorder on the table in between them. She would also make notes, but the recording would help her when it came to actually writing the chapter on Millicent Bagnold.

"So Cho, where do you want me to begin?" Millicent asked as she settled back in her chair with her cup of tea.

"That's usually up to the people I take to," Cho replied. "Some people prefer to just talk, while others would rather I asked questions."

"How about I tell you about my time as Minister, and then you can ask any questions on anything you want to know more about," Millicent suggested.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Cho said with a smile, already confident that Millicent was about to become her most interesting chapter to date.

For the next hour Millicent Bagnold turned back the clock and relived her heady days as Minister of Magic. Her time in charge had been eventful and she regaled Cho with numerous stories. She fondly recalled the people she worked with, and the good friends she'd made while working at the Ministry. And of course she discussed what it was like to be in charge during the first fall of Voldemort, and the subsequent changes in the wizarding world.

"Do you have any regrets about your time in charge?" Cho asked once Millicent had finished talking.

"I wouldn't say it was a regret about my time in charge, but there is one thing I wish I'd done more about," Millicent confessed. "I'm sure you've heard of Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Of course, she's rather notorious," Cho replied. "She was part of the group that broke out of Azkaban while I was at Hogwarts. I think she was sent back there after the end of the second war."

"I was Minister when she was arrested the first time," Millicent said. "Of course we'd heard rumours about her darkness for years, but nothing was ever proven. Then she was caught red-handed torturing the Longbottoms. I knew both Frank and Alice personally as they were both Aurors. Frank was the best in the business, and it had been a loss to us when he went into hiding with his wife."

"I didn't know the Longbottoms ever went into hiding," Cho remarked.

"It was all to do with the prophecy about the Potter boy," Millicent replied. "At the time it wasn't clear who exactly it was about and Frank and Alice's son was a contender. It's so sad that they'd only just re-joined the world when Bellatrix set upon them. I'd only spoken to Frank earlier that day about him and Alice returning to work."

"It's terrible what happened to them," Cho said softly.

"It is," Millicent agreed. "But it was Bellatrix we were discussing. When she was arrested she was making some wild allegations. At the time we put it down to her wanting to avoid Azkaban, but I did wonder if there was some truth in them, and now I regret not following through with investigating things more thoroughly."

"What sort of allegations was she making?" Cho asked eagerly, sensing that she might be onto something explosive.

"She was claiming she attacked the Longbottoms to find her child," Millicent answered. "She was adamant they knew where her child was."

"Child?" Cho repeated in shock. "I didn't know she had a child."

"She doesn't, or at least not a one I could find evidence of," Millicent replied. "That was one of the reasons we dismissed what she was saying. Not only did she have no children, but to suggest that Frank and Alice knew the whereabouts of her child when she obviously didn't was ludicrous."

"But yet you still considered it a possibility," Cho said. "You said Bellatrix had no child you could find evidence of, so you must have looked."

"I did a cursory search," Millicent admitted. "But her trial proved her to be unstable, and other matters meant I didn't have the time to deal with her hysterical rantings."

"Other matters?" Cho asked curiously.

"Voldemort's disappearance was understandably met with glee from our world and there were a lot of celebrations. Some of these wilder celebrations breached the state of secrecy act and I was under pressure to ensure our world remained hidden from the muggles. Between calming people down and retaining our secrecy as well as continuing to round up other Death Eaters, Bellatrix and her claims just wasn't a priority."

"But yet you wish you'd done more."

"I do," Millicent confessed with a sigh. "Several years ago I lost my son, and it got me thinking of Bellatrix and if she could possibly have been telling the truth. It made me wish I'd done more when I'd had the chance."

"Have you ever thought of doing more now?" Cho asked. "You could still get to the bottom of the story."

"I'm not sure if it's really anything to do with me," Millicent said with a shrug. "From what I know, Bellatrix hasn't mentioned this child for years, and her family don't seem to have tried to find them. I guess I would like to know if it was true, or just the mad ravings of a woman trying to avoid Azkaban. But I'm not sure I'll ever find out. As I said, it's not really my place to pry into Bellatrix's life. I had my chance to look into things when I was Minister and I chose not to."

"And now you regret it," Cho said.

"I do," Millicent confirmed with a nod. "But we've also got to remember the Longbottoms in all of this. She didn't say so in as many words, but she was accusing Frank and Alice of having something to do with her child's disappearance. I'll admit that if she was accusing certain other people I might have been more inclined to believe her, but I knew the Longbottoms and I refuse to believe they would be party to any plot to take a child from its mother."

"But you do believe some people might have done so?" Cho pressed. "People like who?"

"I don't like to speak ill of the dead, but I never trusted Albus Dumbledore," Millicent admitted in a quiet voice. "I know Frank and Alice were tight with him and were part of the group he'd formed to fight the dark, but I still don't believe they would have been part of taking a child away from its parents."

"But you believe Dumbledore would have done such a thing?"

"I believe Albus Dumbledore would have done whatever it took to defeat Voldemort," Millicent replied. "And I believe he had enough sway over a lot of people to get them to go along with any crazy scheme he concocted. But not Frank and Alice, and certainly not anything as horrific as taking a child from its mother. As I said, if Bellatrix had been accusing others I might have taken more time to look into her claims. But she was accusing people I knew to be good and honest."

"But even so, you looked into it a little bit," Cho said.

"I couldn't in all good conscience ignore her claims completely," Millicent said. "But there was never any record at the Ministry of a child being born to Bellatrix, and I couldn't find any hospital records either. Of course I didn't delve too deeply into things for reasons I've already explained."

"I understand that it must have been a difficult situation for you," Cho said sympathetically. "And given what I know of Bellatrix, I certainly don't think it's inconceivable that she would try anything, no matter how wild, to try and avoid Azkaban."

"That was my thinking at the time," Millicent said with a grateful smile. "Now I feel as if we've gotten slightly off track. Do you have any more questions for me?"

Pushing aside her instincts that she'd just stumbled upon the story of a lifetime, Cho returned her attention to the topic in hand and she found another couple of insightful questions to ask the former Minister. By the time she left twenty minutes later, Bellatrix hadn't been mentioned again, and Cho thanked Millicent for being a delightful interviewee. She then promised the former Minister a special preview of the chapter she planned on writing about her time in charge, before saying her goodbyes and heading home.

However, once at home Cho's mind was not at all on the interview she'd just conducted. Settling down in her study, she pulled out her magical recorder and replayed the part of the conversation about Bellatrix. Setting aside her notes on the book she was currently working on she began jotting down her notes on Bellatrix's story. By the time she was finished writing down everything she knew, she was determined to get to the bottom of the story. She needed to know if Bellatrix's story was true, or if it was an elaborate lie to try and save her from a harsh prison sentence.

What Cho didn't realise was that she was about to embark down a very dangerous path. In trying to get to the bottom of Bellatrix's story she was going to land herself in serious trouble. In fact by delving into the past she was going to end up getting herself killed.


	2. Chapter 1

**Three months later.**

The sun was shining on the Potters back garden as Harry Potter celebrated his thirtieth birthday. Harry had been adamant that he hadn't wanted a fuss for his birthday, but his wife, Ginny, had persuaded him that turning thirty needed to be marked in some way. After much discussion, Harry had agreed that Ginny could invite their family and friends over to theirs on the day of his birthday and they would celebrate with a low-key party.

Despite all the family and several friends been present, the day had been low-key, and Harry was happy he'd allowed Ginny to talk him into celebrating. Everyone he loved was at the party and they all seemed to be having a good time.

With several children at the party, all sorts of events were taking place, and the adults took every moment to enjoy the peace when the children were busy elsewhere. One of those enjoying the peace was Harry's best friend, Hermione Granger. Hermione had been playing with some of the children earlier, but she was now sitting on a bench at the side of the garden, watching the fun.

Mainly Hermione was watching her fiancé, Draco Malfoy, and the effortless way in which he'd slipped into the Weasley family. She and Draco had been together for a little over two years, and it was now normal to see him interacting so easily with her friends and the Weasleys. Of course it helped that he was partners at work with Harry, and the pair worked closely with Ron in the Law Department, where all three of them were Aurors. Hermione herself even worked closely with the trio in her role as the Ministry's Forensic Pathologist.

Although all that could be about to change as Hermione had been approached about taking on the position of Head of the Law Department. The current head of the department was getting ready to leave the post, and Hermione was the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shackelbolt's first choice to head the department. Hermione was extremely flatted by the offer, and she was currently thinking it over. She knew Draco thought she should take the job, and she'd been positive that was what she was going to do, until some unexpected news had rocked her world.

Thinking of the news that she'd yet to share with her fiancé, Hermione let her attention drift away from where Draco was flying with some of the boys. Running her eyes over the garden, her attention came to rest on Ginny, who was sitting nursing her six month old daughter, Lily. Lily was the Potter's third child, or fourth if you included Teddy Lupin, who the couple had raised since his parents had died in the war twelve years ago.

Hermione smiled softly as Teddy appeared at Ginny's side and lifted Lily from her arms to give her a cuddle. Teddy was growing up fast, and she knew both Remus and Tonks would have been proud of their son. He was a great big brother, not just to Lily, but to James and Albus, and he was a genuinely lovely boy. He'd been sorted into Gryffindor upon his arrival at Hogwarts two years ago, and Harry was always boasting about how smart he was.

Hermione's attention continued to wander around the garden at the various Weasley children, but she got momentarily distracted by Percy and Ron having a few words. Things were slightly awkward between the pair because Ron had shown up to the party with his on-off girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater. Ron had been seeing Penelope on and off since she'd consulted on the Millicent Bullstrode case just over two years ago. The only problem was, she was Percy's ex-girlfriend and even though Percy was now married to a lovely witch named, Audrey, he didn't like his youngest brother dating his ex. Unfortunately for Percy, Ron and Penelope had been getting more serious about one another and from what Hermione knew, they'd been solidly dating for the last three months and if she was the betting kind, she would wager that their relationship was turning serious and that Penelope would be around more often at Weasley family gatherings.

"Are they arguing again?" Draco's amused voice said from beside Hermione.

"Last time I said they were arguing, Percy said they were just exchanging frank opinions," Hermione chuckled.

"And what did Ron say?" Draco asked, settling down beside Hermione. "Here, I brought you a drink," he added, handing Hermione a glass of rosé wine.

"Ron said Percy was an arse," Hermione replied as she took the glass of wine off her fiancée.

"Can't say I can argue with that," Draco said in a low voice. "Percy is rather pompous."

"Yeah, he's not the most easy going of people," Hermione conceded. "Not that I'm really sure what his problem is. He dated Penelope way back in Hogwarts, and he's married to someone else now."

"Maybe it's a territorial thing," Draco suggested. "He might not like his brother taking his place. Not that I'm an expert on sibling rivalry since I'm an only child."

"Did you ever wish you'd had a brother of sister?" Hermione asked.

"I can't say that I did," Draco replied. "I'm not sure I would have liked sharing the attention of my parents. What about you, did you ever wish you had a sibling?"

"Not until I met the Weasleys," Hermione said with a smile as she recalled her first few meetings with the boisterous red-headed family. "After spending time with them, I sometimes wished I had someone to share things with. But then again as a muggleborn, chances are they won't have been magical so our lives would have drifted away from each other. Maybe in the end it was a good thing I was an only child."

"I suppose in different circumstances it could have been fun to have siblings," Draco said, watching as James and Albus ran past them laughing conspiratorially together.

"I guess a larger family would have been nice," Hermione agreed. "Not that it's too late to have a larger family."

"I guess not," Draco replied. "Maybe when the times right we could have a couple of cute kids."

"So you'd want children?" Hermione asked. Despite living together and being engaged they'd never really discussed having children together.

"Yeah, one day," Draco answered with a smile. "One day I'd quite like a large family gathering like this one. Not that I'd want too many children, maybe two or three."

"Two or three sounds ideal," Hermione said.

"But not for a while yet," Draco said as George's son, Little Fred, called for him to go back and fly with them. "Sorry Hermione, duty calls. I've got to go and convince Little Fred he wants to be a seeker, not a beater."

"Go and have fun," Hermione encouraged with a shaky smile.

Hermione watched as Draco headed back over to where some of the boys were flying, his words ringing in her ears. Losing herself in thought, she placed the untouched glass of wine Draco had brought her on the grass beside the bench, where it would remain for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Hermione had barely entered her office on Monday morning when her pager sounded. Unclipping it from her skirt, she checked the message and found it came from Draco and contained an address she was needed at. Draco's shift had started over an hour ago, but Hermione was also slightly late in arriving to work so she didn't get a chance to do anything before she was grabbing her bag and leaving her office again.

Five minutes later Hermione arrived at the address her fiancé had sent her. The house in question was a town house in the centre of wizarding London and she was surprised to find Harry sitting on the step outside of the house. Harry was clearly upset by what he'd witnessed and Hermione instantly feared the worst. As an Auror he was used to seeing terrible sights, but on a whole he was able to remain professional.

The case that had affected him the most, in fact it had been the case that had affected everyone, was the one of two years ago when Millicent Bullstrode had been targeting people in their year. They'd all lost friends during the course of the investigation, and they'd even all become targets themselves. It was by far the toughest case Hermione had ever been involved in and she was hoping Harry's presence on the steps didn't indicate they were in for another rough case.

"Is everything okay, Harry?" Hermione checked, kneeling down in front of her best friend.

"It's Cho," Harry choked out. "This is her house."

"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione said sympathetically. She didn't think Harry had seen his one-time girlfriend since she'd left Hogwarts, and even though he was deliriously happy with Ginny, she knew Cho held a special place in his heart as his first crush and first real girlfriend. "Do you want to come back in with me, or are you going back to the Ministry?"

"I'm coming back in with you," Harry said as he got to his feet. "I just needed a moment. All I can think about is what happened last time we investigated the death of someone we knew."

"This isn't the same, Harry," Hermione said gently. "I don't know what's going on, but the chances of us dealing with another deranged serial killer is slim."

"Whoever we're dealing with might not be a serial killer, but they're deranged," Harry muttered. "In my opinion all killers are wrong in their minds."

Hermione nodded her agreement as the pair headed into the house. Hermione took a cursory look around the hallway before she followed Harry into a bright living room. Cho was lying on the floor of the room, pale and unmoving. Snapping on her gloves, Hermione knelt down beside the witch and confirmed she was dead.

"She's been dead a while," Hermione said. "Definitely overnight. Who found her?"

"A friend," Harry replied. "She's tried flooing Cho last night but got no answer. She assumed she was busy working, so she tried again this morning. When she still got no answer, she came around and let herself in. Draco's talking to her in the kitchen."

Hermione nodded again as she carried on her examination. She quickly ascertained that Cho hadn't been killed from the killing curse, nor were there any marks on her body to suspect she'd been attacked.

"Could it be natural causes?" Harry asked.

"It could be," Hermione admitted. "I'll have some answers for you by this afternoon."

Getting back to her feet, Hermione stumbled slightly as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Harry was at her side instantly, steadying her and checking she was alright.

"I just stood up too fast," Hermione said with a shake of her head.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked uncertainly. "If you're not feeling well, you can head back to the office."

"I'm fine Harry, it was just a spot of head rush," Hermione replied. "Besides, you know I like to supervise my team. Until we know what we're dealing with, I'm assuming Cho's death will be treated as suspicious."

"Until you say otherwise, it's suspicious," Harry confirmed as Hermione sent messages for her team to get to the scene and transport Cho's body back to her lab.

While they were waiting for Hermione's team to arrive, she helped Harry have a poke around Cho's house. The pair had just entered what was obviously her study when Draco appeared. He'd taken a statement from Cho's friend and he'd sent her home with an M.L.E officer.

"What exactly does Cho do for a living?" Harry asked.

"She's a writer," Hermione answered, pointing to a couple of books on the shelves which bore Cho's name. "She writes factual books. I've read a couple actually and they're not bad. She clearly does a lot of research."

"That's pretty much what her friend said," Draco said. "That was why she wasn't worried last night when Cho didn't answer. Apparently when she's working she gets totally absorbed."

"I can understand that," Hermione said with a smile. She herself could get completely lost in work and more than once Draco had needed to physically put himself in between her and her work to grab her attention.

"I don't see any work here," Harry said with a frown. "This is a pretty tidy desk. There's no papers, or any indication she was working on anything."

"Her friend was pretty certain she was working on something," Draco said. "Maybe we're not looking in the right place."

"I'll leave you two to your search," Hermione said, poking her head out of the study at the sound of her team arriving. "Meeting at three?"

"Three sounds good," Harry said with a nod.

Hermione said her goodbyes and after supervising the removal of Cho's body she headed back to the Ministry to begin her work, leaving Harry and Draco to get on with their side of the investigation into the tragic death of Cho Chang.


	3. Chapter 2

Ron Weasley breathed out a sad sigh as he pinned a picture of Cho up on the whiteboard in the conference room he'd turned into a base for the investigation into her death. As an Auror he was used to dealing with death, but it never got any easier when it was someone he knew. Even the death of someone like Cho, whom who'd only known briefly in school, affected him deeply. Ron was just hoping that whatever had happened to Cho wouldn't involve anyone else he knew as he wasn't sure he could live through another case as personal as the one two years ago, where they'd all lost friends.

To be honest Ron was secretly hoping that when Hermione arrived for the meeting she would bring good news and announce that Cho's death wasn't foul play. Not that he realistically thought it would happen as his every instinct as an Auror was telling him they were dealing with murder, and he knew both Harry and Draco had felt the same. Besides, he'd spent the day doing background research on Cho, and among that had been her medical history and from what Ron could gather, she'd been in perfect health. Still it would be nice if Hermione did arrive bearing news that wouldn't lead to a murder investigation.

Unfortunately, when Hermione did arrive in the conference room five minutes before the meeting was due to start, Ron could tell that she wasn't bringing good news. He didn't ask her as it would only mean they would need to go over it again when Harry and Draco arrived, but they did share a sad smile as they settled down to wait for the other two members of their team to arrive.

Harry and Draco arrived spot on three, and grabbing some drinks they settled themselves down at the table. Draco slid into the empty seat beside Hermione, while Harry settled opposite them next to Ron. As always Harry took charge of the meeting, and he began by asking Hermione a question they all instinctively knew the answer to – did Cho die of natural causes?

"She was poisoned," Hermione answered.

"Poisoned?" Draco repeated, his mind automatically returning to the horror they'd dealt with two years ago. Just looking around the table, he knew Harry and Ron were also thinking of the very first case they investigated as a team.

"Don't worry, it's nothing like last time," Hermione said. "We're dealing with a simple poison. In fact I think it's a poison designed to rid plants of bugs."

"A Herbology potion?" Harry frowned. "And things like that can kill a person?"

"All poisons are dangerous if ingested," Hermione replied. "I'm currently running tests on the exact composition of the poison, and from there we should be able to see if it's sold anywhere or home-made."

"Can we say for definite that Cho was killed, or could we possibly be dealing with suicide?" Harry asked. He seriously doubted the latter as an option, but a good Auror considered all possibilities and that was what he was doing.

"I can't tell you that, Harry," Hermione replied. "I can tell you I found traces of tea leaves in Cho's stomach. My guess is that the poison was ingested via a cup of tea. Whether it was self-inflicted or someone else put it in her drink, I can't say."

"There was no sign of any tea cups lying around the house," Draco said. "We could check all her cups for residue of the poison, but they were all washed and in the cupboard."

"So if she did this herself, she washed and put her cup away after herself," Ron said. "Would she have had time for that?"

"If she moved quickly enough," Hermione replied. "Poisons affect different people at different speeds depending on a variety of things, but I would say Cho would have started to feel the effects after only a couple of minutes, and she would been dead within fifteen minutes of the initial ingestion."

"We found no sign of any note," Draco said. "And her parents didn't indicate she was having any sort of problems, nor did her friend who found her. I would say suicide was unlikely."

"So would I," Harry agreed. "But we needed to consider it anyway. Besides, I think murder is more likely given what else we found at the house."

"What else did you find?" Ron asked as he got up and wrote Cho's official cause of death on the board and made a note that they were treating the case as murder.

"Several areas in the house had been wiped clean of all prints," Harry answered. "Someone clearly didn't want us to find proof they were ever in Cho's house."

"And what about her study?" Hermione asked. "Did you ever find what she was working on?"

"We turned the whole place upside down and came up with nothing," Draco answered. "Her friend was sure she was working on something, but I spoke to her again and she didn't know what it was."

"I can help you there," Ron said as he re-joined the group at the table. "One of the people I spoke to today was Cho's agent. A few months ago she was commissioned to write a book about the different Ministers of Magic. Apparently she was loving the work and was getting on really well. I even spoke to Kingsley and he confirmed that he'd given Cho an interview a couple of months ago."

"So where's her work for this book?" Draco asked with a frown.

"I don't know, I didn't know it was missing when I spoke to her agent," Ron said. "However, he was keen to help so I'm sure we could contact him again."

"Maybe we could get him to meet us at Cho's house," Harry suggested. "She might have a secret hiding hole where she keeps her work."

"I'll arrange it," Ron said with a nod. "But I doubt the book was why she was killed. Maybe we should be looking into the other aspects of her life."

"I agree that the book doesn't seem like a likely reason for her to be killed, but until we find her work, the fact it's missing is a problem," Harry said. "But let's look at the rest of her life for now."

"So what do we know about the rest of her life?" Draco asked. "Her parents were pretty upset so they weren't much use to us, but they were adamant Cho was happy and there was no problems in her life."

"Unfortunately, that was what I found as well," Ron admitted with a rueful smile. "Cho was a successful writer and she had a decent savings account at Gringotts. She wasn't currently dating anyone, but none of her previous relationships seemed to have ended badly. She has a small circle of friends she sees regularly, and she's still close to her parents. Her health seems good, and from everything I've found, she was happy and content with her life. Her death has come completely out of the blue."

"So it looks like the missing work is all we've got to go on," Draco remarked.

"Let's see if we can find the work with the help of her agent," Harry said. "We can take a fresh look at things in the morning. Maybe we'll get somewhere when we can start to track down the poison that killed her."

"I should be able to start that search tomorrow," Hermione said. "The analysis of the poison won't be finished until the early hours of the morning."

With everything of importance discussed and plans made the meeting broke up. Hermione headed back down to her lab to write up the official paperwork for Cho's death and to prepare her body for her parents to come and see her. Ron made contact with Cho's agent, who was happy to help and agreed to meet Draco and Harry at Cho's house that afternoon. Hoping to find Cho's missing work, Draco and Harry headed out to meet with the agent and hopefully close one puzzling element to Cho's death.

* * *

Hermione knew before she arrived home that she would be the first one home. Draco had still been out with Harry when Hermione had left work, and she had no idea when he would be home. Hoping that he wouldn't be too late, Hermione changed out of her work clothes into something more casual before heading into the kitchen to make something to eat.

Hermione wasn't the best cook, in fact Draco was much better than she was, but she wasn't terrible and as long as she kept to relatively simple things she managed just fine. Fishing in the fridge and cupboards, Hermione found the ingredients to make Spaghetti Bolognese, and she set about making the pasta as she tried not to dwell on Cho and her tragic death. Instead she tried to focus on her own life and the important matter she needed to discuss with Draco. Not that it was easy as her mind kept going back to Cho and thoughts of who possibly could have killed her.

Hermione's thoughts were still firmly on Cho when she heard Draco arriving home. She didn't need to say anything for Draco to know where she was, and when he entered the room and wrapped his arms around her waist, she settled back against him, taking comfort in his presence.

"You look tired," Draco said gently as he dropped a kiss to Hermione's shoulder.

"Long day," Hermione replied.

"Tell me about it," Draco said with a sigh.

"Did you get anywhere with Cho's agent?" Hermione asked, as she refocused on finishing the dinner.

"He was just as shocked as we were by the lack of work in Cho's study," Draco explained. "Apparently she keeps box files for her work. She has one or two for her research notes, one for the pages she's currently working on, and one for her finished work. They're normally all stacked on her desk and kept in order all the time. We've searched the entire house again, and there's no signs of them."

"You think the killer took them?" Hermione questioned in confusion.

"At the minute it's all we can think of to explain their loss," Draco replied with a shrug. "I just don't get why they're missing. She's writing about Ministers of Magic, and they've gained a waiver from everyone she's writing about, or their families, to include them in the book. Her agent was very clear that if someone had refused permission to write about them, then they would be omitted from the book."

"Did anyone refuse to be part of the book?" Hermione asked, handing the plates to Draco so he could set the kitchen table.

"No," Draco answered. "All the living Ministers were happy to talk to Cho, and the families of those who are dead were happy to help provide Cho with information. It was clearly going to be a positive book, so people were only too happy to be part of it."

"Maybe someone said something to Cho and then later regretted it," Hermione suggested.

"Maybe," Draco agreed. "Anyway, Cho's agent has promised to look out the copies of everything Cho sent to him in regards to the book. He's also going to sit down with Harry and go over his memories of his recent meetings with Cho in the hopes that Harry spots something amiss. As strange as it seems, this book seems to be our only lead."

"With any look I'll be able to help more tomorrow when the analysis of the poison is finished," Hermione said. "Now enough talk about murder, let's eat."

"Do you want a glass of wine?" Draco asked, pulling a bottle from the fridge.

"No, just water," Hermione replied.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Draco questioned as he sat down at the table with his wine and Hermione's water.

"I'm fine," Hermione reassured her fiancé. "As I said, it's just been a long day."

Over dinner the couple left the topic of work to one side and instead chatted about other things. However, once dinner was over and they settled themselves in the living room, talk turned back to the Ministry. Only instead of discussing their newest case, Draco asked if Hermione had made any decision on her offered promotion.

"It hasn't really been the day to think about the future," Hermione said.

"I don't get why you're stalling," Draco said with a slight frown. "Surely being head of the department is just another step on your journey to Minister of Magic."

"You think I could be Minister one day?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"I do," Draco confirmed with a proud smile. "In fact I look forward to the day I can say my wife is the Minister of Magic."

"I've never really thought about it," Hermione confessed.

"Seriously?" Draco raised a surprised eyebrow in his fiancée's direction. "Someone as motivated and ambitious as you, hasn't thought about having the most prestigious job in our world?"

"I guess I've never thought that far ahead," Hermione replied with a shrug. "And even if I take the job as head of department, it doesn't mean I'll make Minister one day."

"I'd bet on you making it," Draco said confidently. "But for now, let's focus on the job offer on the table. Why haven't you said yes, yet?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that if I said yes, I'd be your boss?" Hermione asked.

"It has occurred to me," Draco replied with a smile. "And before you ask, no it wouldn't bother me. I doubt it would make a difference to our lives unless you had a problem with my work."

"But what about promotions?" Hermione asked. "If I took this job and you made Head Auror one day, there would be people saying you got the job because of our relationship."

"Firstly, sod what small minded people have to say," Draco said firmly. "Secondly, I seriously doubt that would be a problem anyway. We both know if anyone is going to make Head Auror, its Harry. Thirdly, I don't want to be Head Auror anyway. I love my job, but I've always known that one day I'll call it quits and take over the family business."

"You're not planning on leaving just yet are you?" Hermione questioned. She knew that the family business would play a part in Draco's future, but she'd never really thought about the day he'd leave the Ministry and his job as an Auror behind.

"No, it'll be a good few years before I leave," Draco replied. "It'll be more than enough time to enjoy the perks of having you as my boss."

"What sort of perks are we talking about?" Hermione asked.

"As Head of Department you'd have your own private office," Draco said seductively as he ran his hand up Hermione's leg.

"I have my own office now," Hermione pointed out, biting her lip to stop from moaning at the feeling of Draco's hands on her. Even after two years together, things were still explosive in the bedroom department and they still couldn't get enough of each other.

"Your office wall is made of glass and looks out over your lab," Draco countered. "Anything we got up to in there would be on show for all of your staff to see. Unless of course that turns you on."

"No, it does not," Hermione replied with a laugh. "What we get up to is private, and I'd rather not give my team a free show."

"Which is why having your own private office would be perfect," Draco retorted. "Just think of all the naughty things we could do in that office."

"I don't think my imagination is that good," Hermione said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulder.

"Let me help with that," Draco offered as he stood up and pulled Hermione to her feet.

"Where are we going?" she asked as his led her out of the front room.

"The study," Draco replied, grinning over his shoulder at Hermione. "I'm going to show you all the wonderful things we can do if you have your own private office at the Ministry."

Laughing and shaking her head, Hermione let Draco drag her into the study they shared. The couple then proceeded to have a couple of hour's fun on the large desk in the room, before they moved things into the bedroom.


	4. Chapter 3

The second day of the investigation into Cho's death was slow going, with very little progress made. Each of the group had their own things to look into, but when they gathered at the end of the afternoon to compare notes, they all knew they were not much further forward with the investigation. In fact the only person with anything to really talk about was Hermione, who'd managed to identify the type of poison used to kill Cho.

"I was right, it was a Herbology potion," Hermione announced. "We've traced the composition to one of the most popular Herbology potions on the market called Bugs-Bee-Gone."

"Mother uses that," Draco said. "She's swears it's the only thing that keeps the bugs away from her roses."

"As I said, it's a very popular brand," Hermione said. "It's stocked in almost all apothecaries and a lot of garden centres."

"So really this is of no use to us," Harry said with a sigh. "If the potion is so widely available, anyone could have access to it."

"It's a long shot, but I've made a list of the shops that sell it," Hermione said, handing the list over to Ron for him to look into. "These days a lot of shops keep a record of people buying dangerous potions."

"You mean the new laws that were introduced after the war?" Ron checked. Following the war, it became illegal for shops to sell dangerous potions or ingredients without keeping a record of their sales.

"I do," Hermione replied with a nod. "The only thing is, Bugs-Bee-Gone might not be on the list since it's a Herbology potion. Even so, conscientious shops might keep records."

"Of course all this could be totally in vain," Draco said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked his partner with a frown.

"These leglisations about keeping a record of dangerous potions and ingredients have all came into place since the end of the war. Anything bought before the rules were activated is untraceable," Draco explained.

"But that was over a decade ago," Ron argued. "Surely anything bought that long ago will be out of date."

"Not if it's stored properly," Draco said. "And don't forget we've still got the black market to consider. I doubt the shops in places like Knockturn Alley keep adequate records. A few galleons would be all it would take to keep names off the register."

"So basically, this will be of no use to us at all," Ron said with a sigh.

"I don't know Ron, but we have to check it out," Hermione replied.

"Of course we do," Harry said with a nod. "Now are we sure it's shop bought Bugs-Bee-Gone, or could it be home-made?"

"I've sent out of the team out to buy some Bugs-Bee-Gone and we're going to run comparative samples against what we found in Cho's system," Hermione answered. "It's going to take a few days, but we should be able to tell if there's anything different about the potion in Cho's system."

"But who could make a potion like this?" Ron asked. "I thought all these big branded potions were trademarked with their exact recipe kept a secret."

"They are, so we might need to talk to the inventor of the potion," Hermione said. "Luckily, we know her."

"We do?" Harry asked in confusion. "Who?"

"Bugs-Bee-Gone was patented by the well-known herbologist and former Hogwarts Professor, Pomona Sprout," Hermione announced.

"Wow, she must have made a fortune inventing that potion," Draco said with a low whistle.

"You would have thought so," Hermione replied. "Not that it really matters. Until the final test results are back we have no real reason to think the potion wasn't just shop bought."

"I'll get onto this tomorrow," Ron said, tapping the list Hermione had given him. "Hopefully I'll get somewhere tomorrow as my day today delving into Cho's life hasn't exactly been productive."

"So you found nothing?" Harry checked.

"Not a thing," Ron replied.

He'd spent the day talking to Cho's friends, family, and even her ex-boyfriends trying to find something in her life that might have led to her death. Sadly, he found nothing. Everyone was adamant that Cho didn't have any enemies, and she was happy with her life. Even her ex-boyfriends didn't bear her any grudges and everyone Ron talked to seemed genuinely upset by her death.

"Did you two fare any better?" Hermione asked Draco and Harry.

Cho's agent had been at the Ministry all day and he'd provided them with copies of everything Cho had sent him. Some of it was finished chapters, some were outlines for chapters and ideas on how to present a certain Minister and some was just research. Draco had spent the day going through everything her agent had given them while Harry was with the agent himself viewing his memories of his conversations with Cho.

"I didn't," Harry answered first. "I've spent the entire day with Cho's agent, and while he's keen to help, I don't think he knows anything. There was certainly nothing strange in any of the memories I viewed. The only good thing is that one of the memories took place in Cho's house so I got a good look at the boxes she uses to store her work. I'd recognise them if I saw them again."

"I suppose it's better than nothing, which is exactly what I ended up with," Draco said. "I can't find one thing she's wrote about that could warrant killing her. She mentions a couple of scandals and a few notorious moments, but all of it is public record anyway. There's nothing in her work to get her killed, or at least not that I can see."

"So we're still at square one," Harry said with a sigh. "I have to admit, I'm stumped. This missing work is the only thing out of place. I can't help thinking that it's the key to solving this whole thing."

"If it is, it's in the work she never got round to sending to her agent," Draco said. "Unless someone else wants to take a look at her work."

"Not right now," Harry said with a shake of his head. "I think we need a break and try and look at this with a new perspective in the morning. I'm going home to spend the evening with Ginny and the kids."

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come for a drink," Ron said, also including Hermione and Draco in his invitation.

"Sorry mate, we're due at the manor for dinner this evening," Draco replied.

"Come home with me," Harry offered. "I know Ginny won't mind and the kids will love to see you."

"It's better than drinking alone," Ron said, accepting Harry's offer.

Leaving the investigation in the hopes that they might find a new way to look at things, the foursome left work for the day. Harry and Ron headed back to Harry's place together, while Draco and Hermione returned home with the intention of getting ready for dinner.

"I'm going to grab a shower first," Hermione said as she headed off for the bedroom.

"Why don't I join you and we can save on water," Draco said, following after his fiancée.

"But not on time," Hermione retorted. "If you join me, we'll be in the shower for an eternity."

"I'm sure we can make it quick," Draco replied, giving Hermione a saucy grin.

"I can't say we're really known for our quickies," Hermione laughed. "You're always complaining that you like to take your time."

"Can you blame me?" Draco asked with a shrug, his grey eyes wandering appreciatively over Hermione's body as she began to remove her work clothes. "You're very sexy."

"Thank you," Hermione replied with a smile. "But the answer is still no."

"Actually, I don't think you gave an answer," Draco protested, yet again trailing after Hermione as she padded into the bathroom in just her underwear.

"I have now," Hermione said. "And since I don't want to be late, you stay out here until I've finished."

Draco pouted, but he did as Hermione said and remained out of the shower as his fiancée stripped off completely and stepped under the hot spray. However, Hermione had barely been in the shower two minutes when Draco yanked off his own clothes and opening the glass door, joined her in the shower.

"I thought I said no, and told you to stay out there," Hermione protested.

"I've never been very good at doing what I'm told," Draco retorted, advancing on Hermione in the confined space and pressing her against the corner of the glass shower. "But I'll go if that's what you really want," he added as his hands slowly caressed her wet skin.

"You're a bad influence, Draco Malfoy," Hermione muttered, wrapping her arms around Draco and giving him a searing kiss.

"I try," Draco muttered smugly as he proceeded to wrap Hermione's legs around his waist and take her up against the wall of the shower.

Forty minutes later, Hermione and Draco finally emerged from the shower. Hermione admitted to Draco she was happy he joined her in the shower as she headed off to get dressed. Draco followed smugly behind his fiancée, but rather than get dressed himself he leaned against the wall and watched as Hermione tamed her hair into gentle curls and added a sparse layer of make-up to her flawless skin. He then watched with interest as she slipped into a pair of black lace knickers.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked when she then headed to the wardrobe, her bare breasts capturing his attention.

"Not that I'm aware of," Hermione replied as she sought out the floor length emerald green and black dress she wanted to wear. Dinner at the manor was always fancy and Hermione always liked to wear one of her best dresses when they had dinner with Draco's parents.

"Hermione, you're topless," Draco said. "Not that I would normally complain, but we are heading to the manor and I know that's something my father would notice."

"It's not like I'm staying like this," Hermione laughed, pulling the dress from the wardrobe and turning around to face her fiancé. "I am putting a dress on."

"Without a bra?" Draco checked.

"No bra required," Hermione replied. "But just think what easy access you'll have when we get home."

Flashing Draco a wicked grin, Hermione put on her dress. The straps were thin spaghetti ones and they formed an intricate criss-cross pattern on her back, hence the reason she couldn't wear a bra. Fortunately the dress came with built in support, so Hermione wasn't concerned by her lack of bra.

While Draco was getting dressed, Hermione spritzed herself with her favourite perfume and added a pair of diamond studs and a matching diamond necklace Draco had given her for Christmas. She then slipped into a pair of high black heels and making sure everything she would need was in her black evening bag, she was ready to go.

When they arrived at Malfoy Manor, Hermione was glad she'd made the effort. Draco's father was dressed in a smart black suit like his son while Narcissa was wearing a stunning pale blue dress. The couple looked so elegant together, and while Hermione felt as though she was dressed up, she suspected that for Draco's parents it was just a casual dinner with their son and his fiancée.

Thankfully Hermione was no longer nervous on such visits as both Lucius and Narcissa had made her feel very welcome, and part of the family. She had been worried about the fact she was a muggleborn, but aside from an apology from Lucius over his past behaviour on their first dinner together, her blood status was never mentioned. Hermione knew Draco's parents had accepted her as part of Draco's life and they'd been as thrilled as anyone when the couple had announced their engagement a few months previously.

After catching up over drinks, the two couples headed into the dining room where the Malfoy house elves had prepared a delicious meal. Hermione had not been impressed by the use of house elves the first time she'd visited the manor, but Draco had assured her the elves were all taken care of and were given as much freedom as they wanted. Hermione had been sceptical, but since then she'd met every elf in the Malfoys employ and she found that they were treated fairly and were happy to serve the family.

"Are the rumours true that you're going to be the new Head of the Law Department, Hermione?" Lucius asked.

"Where did you hear that?" Hermione asked, glancing at her fiancé.

"Don't look at me, I never said a word," Draco protested.

"My influence might not be what it once was, but I do still have connections at the Ministry," Lucius explained. "More than one of my connections mentioned that the Minister wants you to take the job."

"I haven't made any decisions yet," Hermione replied. "Not that I've had much time to think about it over the last few days."

"Ah yes, your new case," Lucius said. "We were reading about it in the papers this morning. You went to school with the girl in question, didn't you?"

"Yes, Cho was older than us, but Harry, Ron and I all knew her," Hermione answered.

"So sad," Narcissa said with a small shake of her head. "She was such a lovely witch."

"You knew her?" Draco asked his mother, a confused frown gracing his features.

"I only met her recently, actually," Narcissa admitted.

"How recently?" Draco questioned.

"I'm not sure exactly, a couple of months ago maybe," Narcissa replied.

"How did you meet her?" Hermione asked. She knew Narcissa was very active in her charity work so she was guessing that was how she'd came into contact with Cho.

"She sent me an owl, asking to meet me," Narcissa said. "She had some crazy idea in her head about Bellatrix."

"Bellatrix," Draco repeated, his blood running cold at the mention of his Aunt who was currently serving a life sentence in Azkaban following the war.

"She was a lovely girl, but she clearly had her wires crossed," Narcissa said. "She thought Bellatrix had a child."

"Bella? With a child?" Lucius laughed. "I've heard everything now. You couldn't get a woman less maternal than your sister."

"I don't understand," Draco said with a frown. "Why would she think such a thing?"

"She said she was working on a book, and someone she spoke to mentioned it," Narcissa answered. "It intrigued her and she wanted to know if it was true. Of course I assured her that my sister had no children."

"Did she mention what book she was working on?" Hermione asked, sharing a look with Draco that told her that he was thinking the same thing as she was – finally they'd gotten a break and had a new direction to take their case in.

"She didn't say," Narcissa replied. "She wouldn't say who she got the information from as she wanted to protect her sources. She just said that she'd had it on good authority that when she was first arrested Bellatrix was claiming she had a child."

"When she was first arrested, you mean when she attacked the Longbottoms?" Hermione checked.

"Yes, according to Miss Chang's source, Bella claimed she attacked them because they knew where her child was," Narcissa said.

"Let's get this straight," Draco muttered. "Years ago, Bellatrix claimed she had a child, and the Longbottoms knew where it was. That implies she didn't know. Was she saying her child was kidnapped?"

"I don't know what she was saying, Draco. That was the first I'd heard of it," Narcissa said. "But Bella did not have a child. As your father said, she wasn't the maternal type, and her marriage was hardly a love story. She and Rodolphus barely tolerated each other at times."

"But could it have been possible for Bellatrix to have had a child?" Draco pressed. "I know it seems crazy, but just think about it. Could she have hidden a pregnancy?"

"Yes," Lucius answered as Narcissa opened her mouth to say no. "Come on Cissa, you know as well as I do that she used to disappear for months on end doing things for The Dark Lord. I'm not saying I believe it, but it's a possibility."

"A tiny one," Narcissa conceded. "If Bella had a child, she would have told me. Especially if the child was taken from her."

"I'm not saying it had to be true," Draco said to his mother. "The point is, Cho was clearly looking into it. We're at a loss as to why she was killed, and this is new information."

"I don't see how a rumour she mentioned months ago has anything to do with her death," Narcissa argued. "I put her straight and told her she was mistaken. That was the end of it."

"Was it though?" Hermione questioned. "Who's to say she didn't carry on looking into it?"

"She did seem to believe it," Narcissa conceded. "But even if she did keep digging, how could it have gotten her killed? Bellatrix is locked up for crying out loud. My sister is guilty of a great many things, but she isn't involved in this."

"Let's hope not," Draco said. "But my every instinct as an Auror is telling me this is the break we've been waiting for. Even if the rumour isn't true, Cho obviously believed it enough to seek you out. Who knows who else she spoke to, or where else she looked for proof that this story is true. Let's just hope her curiosity about my crazy aunt didn't get her killed."

Hermione also hoped that Cho's investigation into these mad claims about Bellatrix wasn't the cause of her death, but like Draco she felt as though they'd finally gotten a break. At least now they had something to look into, and with any luck the investigation would take an upward turn and they would finally get closer to finding out who had killed Cho.


	5. Chapter 4

At nine o'clock exactly, the foursome involved in the investigation into Cho's death gathered in the conference room. With their first two days going nowhere, Harry was eager to catch a break, or at least find a new avenue of investigation to explore. However, what he didn't expect was for Draco and Hermione to provide that avenue via something Narcissa had mentioned at dinner the previous evening.

"You can't be serious," Ron said in disbelief when Draco and Hermione had repeated what Narcissa had told them.

"Personally, I think it's a pile of bollocks, but mother was sure that Cho believed it," Draco said.

"Cho seriously thought that not only did Bellatrix have a child, but the Longbottoms knew where the child was?" Harry asked, the expression on his face conveying his disbelief.

"She certainly gave Narcissa that impression," Hermione answered.

"Okay, so where do we start with this madness?" Harry questioned. "I'm leaning towards Draco's theory that the story Cho was told is utter bollocks, but if she was looking into it before she died, we also need to look into it."

"First things first, we need to know where Cho got the idea from in the first place," Hermione said as she pulled some parchment in front of her and began to jot down notes. She may have been the only one in the room who wasn't an Auror, but she was still incredibly smart and had an analytical mind.

"Mother mentioned she stumbled on the story while doing work on another book," Draco said. "Given the timing, I think it's safe to say it was the book about Ministers that she was working on."

"I agree," Harry said with a nod. "Which meant the story likely came from the Minister who was in office during the first war."

"And that would be," Ron said, jumping to his feet and searching through some papers. "Millicent Bagnold."

"We need to talk to her," Harry said. "We need to know exactly what she told Cho."

"I'll find her address for you," Ron said as he sat back down. "But while we're here, we should try and work out what Cho would have done to try and check her story out. We know she talked to Draco's mother, but that can't have been all she did."

"In her shoes, I would have tried to access Bellatrix's medical records," Hermione said. "She shouldn't have been able to, but you never know what she might have discovered if she had friends in the right places. I can gain access to Bellatrix's records and see if she ever gave birth, and I might also be able to find out if Cho was asking around."

"I would have also been tempted to talk to the witch in question," Harry said. "Ron, can we check to see if Cho visited Bellatrix?"

"Of course," Ron said with a nod as he jotted down a reminder to do it as soon as possible. "So I take it you and Draco will also be paying a visit to Azkaban."

"How lovely, a chat with my crazy aunt," Draco muttered sarcastically. "Not that I would believe a word that came out of her mouth."

"Nor would I," Harry agreed. "But I think we're going to have to talk to her."

"Do you think we need to consider if this story is true?" Ron asked. "I know it seems crazy, but Cho seemed to believe it, so I'm guessing she treated it as though it was true. Should we do the same?"

"I think we should," Harry said with a nod. "Okay so let's ignore the fact we all think this was just Bellatrix trying to avoid going to Azkaban. Firstly, could it even be possible she was pregnant?"

"Ignoring the fact she never told my mother if she was, then yes, it's possible," Draco said. "She was one of Voldemort's favourites and she was often away with him. Father reckons that it was quite possible for her to have being pregnant without anyone knowing."

"Right, so we can come to terms with an actual pregnancy," Harry said as Hermione made notes of everything they were discussing. "Next topic, the father. Would we automatically assume Rodolphus, or would we be looking elsewhere?"

"Voldemort is the first person who springs to my mind," Ron said. "I always got the impression Bellatrix was in love with him."

"I heard a few rumours of them being involved at the time," Draco admitted. "And I know for a fact she and Rodolphus weren't exactly a match made in heaven. I suppose we could always ask Rodolphus, he's also in Azkaban. Plus he was there the night Bellatrix attacked the Longbottoms."

"And that brings us to our next problem," Harry said after agreeing that while they were visiting Bellatrix they should also pay a visit to her husband. "Basically Bellatrix is claiming her child was stolen and that the Longbottoms knew where they were. Was she accusing them as Aurors, or as part of the Order?"

"I would say she was accusing them as part of the Order," Hermione said. "But would the Order take a baby? And if they would, why Bellatrix's? Other Death Eaters had children, and they didn't snatch them."

"Hermione's right, I was perfectly safe as a baby as were all my friends," Draco said. "Does the snatching of Bellatrix's child mean something special? Does it mean it was also Voldemort's child?"

"Personally, I don't think the Order would ever steal a child, even if it was Voldemort's child," Harry said. "But let's assume they did. It would make sense that she went after the Longbottoms, as they were an important part of the Order. If something like that did happen, it would make sense that only a select few would know about it."

"So who else aside from the Longbottoms might have known about it?" Hermione asked, as she continued to make notes.

"Dumbledore's the obvious one," Harry replied. "My parents, Sirius and Remus. Molly and Arthur, maybe Molly's brothers."

"So basically a pile of dead people," Draco said with a snort. "Aside from Ron's parents, everyone else you mentioned is dead. Or in the Longbottoms case, in no fit state to talk to us."

"I could sound my parents out," Ron suggested. "And there's always people like Professor McGonagall."

"But if this is true, will anyone admit it?" Hermione asked. "Basically we're asking people to incriminate themselves."

"Since it's not true, I don't think it will really matter, but I'm sure we can talk to Kingsley and arrange some sort of immunity to prosecution," Harry said. "But I have another question. Who is Bellatrix's child?"

"Longbottom would be the obvious choice since Bellatrix went after his parents," Draco mused. "But if that was the case, why didn't she accuse them of having her son? According to Mother, Cho said that she claimed the Longbottoms knew where her child was, not that they had her child."

"I think we're basically talking any child born around that time with connections to the Order," Hermione said.

"Including Harry and I," Ron said. "But what if the child wasn't kept within the Order? What if Dumbledore sent them into the muggle world, or even abroad? I think speculating on the child's identity isn't really going to be much help."

"Ron's right, we need to focus on following in Cho's footsteps," Draco said.

"In that case, let's get going," Harry said, eager to get on and try and unravel the bizarre mystery they'd been landed with. "Hermione, you can check on Bellatrix's medical records. Ron, make arrangements for Draco and I to visit Azkaban, and check on other visitors to both Bellatrix and Rodolphus. I think Draco and I will start by visiting the Minister we think this story came from. It might help to know exactly what Cho was told."

* * *

Draco and Harry arrived in the wizarding village where Millicent Bagnold lived shortly before midday. Ron had found them her address after the meeting, but not wanting to just turn up at her house without warning, Harry had contacted her by floo and made an appointment. The remainder of the morning had been spent going back over Cho's work, looking for something about the woman they were going to meet, but whatever information Cho may have had on Millicent Bagnold, it hadn't been sent to her editor.

"Nice village," Draco remarked as he and Harry headed to the cottage where the former Minister lived.

"It could be a bit quiet," Harry replied. He had nothing against the countryside, but he did like a bit of life to his surroundings.

"Just the way I like it," Draco said with a chuckle. "You're forgetting Harry, I grew up in the country."

"So did Ron, and I spent loads of time with his family in school, but this place is just too quiet," Harry argued.

"But you were with the Weasleys," Draco pointed out. "They could live in the middle of nowhere, which incidentally they do, and it would still be loud and full of life. I grew up on a large estate in the quiet countryside. I like the solitude of a place like this."

"You're not telling me you and Hermione are moving somewhere like this, are you?" Harry asked with a laugh.

"We've never talked about moving," Draco replied honestly. "But we won't be living in the penthouse forever. I do think I would quite like to live somewhere quiet like this."

"Let's hope this sort of place appeals to Hermione then," Harry remarked as they reached Millicent Bagnold's cottage.

The old woman who answered the door, greeted them both warmly and ushered them into a living room where she had a tray of tea and cakes waiting for them. Draco and Harry both took a cup of tea and thanked the witch for her generosity and her time.

"So what can I do for you?" Millicent asked. "I have to admit, I was intrigued to receive a request to meet two Aurors."

"You may have read that we're investigating the death of Cho Chang," Draco said.

"Yes, I read about that in the papers. Such a tragic waste of life," Millicent said with a deep sigh. "I met her just recently, you know."

"That's what we were wanting to talk to you about," Harry said. "We know she was writing a book about former Ministers of Magic, but we've also found out she was looking into a rumour surrounding Bellatrix Lestrange."

"No," Millicent gasped, quickly putting down her china tea-cup as her hands started to shake. "Please tell me that her death had nothing to do with the rumour."

"We don't know yet," Draco replied gently. "But it might help us if we knew exactly what Cho knew. You were the one who told her about Bellatrix weren't you?"

"I was," Millicent admitted in a small voice. "And I hope that by telling her about Bellatrix's claims, I haven't gotten her killed."

"The only person responsible for Cho's death is whoever killed her," Harry said reassuringly. "This is not your fault."

Millicent nodded unsurely as she took a deep breath and repeated the story she'd told Cho a few months ago. Harry and Draco didn't manage to gleam much more than what they'd already heard from Narcissa, but it was handy to hear the story from the original source.

"Do you mind if I ask what your thoughts are on the story?" Draco asked. "Do you believe Bellatrix's claims are true?"

"I really don't know," Millicent said with a sigh. "At the time I did cursory checks and found nothing, and since there were other important matters to be dealt with, I was happy to let it go and put it down to Bellatrix's instability. But I suppose in the back of my mind, I've always wondered. They're such fanciful claims, and even for some like Bellatrix, it's rather an outrageous lie to tell."

"Indeed it is," Harry said with a frown. "So basically you believe there's some truth in her claims?"

"I believe there's something there, yes," Millicent said. "What she's saying might not be strictly true, but there might be a kernel of truth hidden in her claims. Maybe she lost a child and for some reason blamed the Longbottoms. I don't know, but as I said, they're fairly wild allegations to make without some basis of truth. If only I'd looked into things more closely back when she was first arrested."

"It wasn't your job to look into the mad ravings of a convicted criminal," Harry said kindly. "You were the Minister of Magic, you had more important things to do. Besides, if she was telling the truth Bellatrix could have done more to find her missing child."

"From Azkaban?" Millicent asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Bellatrix might have been stuck in prison, but she had people on the outside who could have helped her," Draco said. "My mother for one. If she'd told my mother about a missing child, I know she would have done everything in her power to find them. Instead Bellatrix made these claims once and never mentioned them again."

"So you're working on the assumption she was lying," Millicent stated.

"We're not investigating Bellatrix's claims, we're investigating Cho's death," Harry said. "It doesn't really matter if Bellatrix was lying or not, we need to find out how Cho went about trying to get to the truth."

"Good luck with that," Millicent said as the trio rose and she saw the pair to the door. "Just call if you need to talk to me again. Miss Chang was a lovely girl and I want to see her killer brought to justice."

"We all do," Harry said with a solemn nod as he thanked the former Minister and he and Draco left her cottage. "What do you think?" he asked as they headed across the village to the apparition point.

"I think it's time we went to speak to my aunt," Draco said reluctantly.

"Something to look forward to," Harry muttered. Like Draco he wasn't looking forward to the visit, but it had to be done. Bellatrix might just be the key to cracking the case and working out who had killed Cho.


	6. Chapter 5

When they returned to the Ministry, Harry and Draco found that Ron had booked them appointments with both Bellatrix and Rodolphus that afternoon. He also informed them that both Rodolphus and Bellatrix had been visited by Cho before her death. Cho had seen Rodolphus a couple of months ago, but it was only within the last three weeks that she'd seen Bellatrix.

"Why the discrepancy in timings?" Harry asked when Ron told them what he knew. "Surely Bellatrix would have been her first port of call."

"I spoke to one of the guards at Azkaban. He's in charge of visits, and according to him, Cho first sent a request to see Bellatrix two weeks before she saw Rodolphus," Ron explained. "I'm guessing Bellatrix wouldn't see her, so she went to her next option which was Rodolphus."

"And my mother," Draco added. "Mother said it was a couple of months ago that she'd spoken to Cho."

"So why did Bellatrix change her mind?" Harry questioned.

"I have no idea," Ron replied with a shrug. "The guard said that requests kept coming in to see Bellatrix and finally Bellatrix agreed to a visit."

"What do you know about the visit?" Draco asked. He knew records of visits to Azkaban were kept at the Ministry.

"Not much," Ron admitted. "It lasted a little over half an hour, and no guards were present. There was a visual recording of the visit, but no sound."

"Why no sound?" Harry asked in bewilderment.

"It violates the prisoners' rights apparently," Ron replied, his opinion evident in the disgusted way he'd spoke the words.

"Heaven forbid we violate the rights of Death Eaters," Harry muttered, rolling his eyes. "Can we look at this recording?"

"I've got it all set up," Ron said as he gestured to the back wall of the conference room.

Taking seats at the table, Harry and Draco watched as Ron waved his wand over a metal disk that was sitting on the table in front of the wall, and suddenly a picture appeared on the wall. The picture showed one of the bare, stone visiting cells in Azkaban, and as they watched Cho was escorted into the room by a guard. A couple of minutes later a second door opened and Bellatrix swaggered into the room with a second guard, who shackled her to the chair opposite Cho and bound her hands. Draco's aunt was looking wilder than ever, and they could sense Cho's nervousness even though they were merely witnessing a recording.

"I wish there was sound," Draco grumbled as on the wall Cho began to talk to Bellatrix.

Cho talked for quite a while without any response from Bellatrix, but finally the older witch joined in the conversation. At first Bellatrix looked to just be shooting off the odd cutting remark, but Cho kept working on her and gradually Bellatrix began to talk properly. There was even a decent section of the recording where Bellatrix was the one doing all the talking and Cho was avidly listening. By the time the guards reappeared to end the meeting, Bellatrix and Cho looked like old friends and Bellatrix even gave Cho a small, genuine looking smile before being escorted from the room.

"What I wouldn't give to know what was said there," Draco said with a resigned shake of his head.

"Don't you think Bellatrix will tell you anything?" Ron asked.

"Put it this way, I'm not going to be holding my breath," Draco muttered as he got to his feet. "Before we leave, I'm going to pop down and see Hermione, see if she's got anything for us before we go and speak to Bellatrix."

"Good luck," Harry called as Draco left the conference room. Even though he hoped Hermione did have something for them, he suspected Draco was actually going to see her to gain some comfort before they headed off to Azkaban.

Draco was in fact going to see Hermione to help calm her nerves before he went to Azkaban, but he was also hoping that she would be able to give them some answers before they spoke to his aunt. However, when he entered the forensic and pathology department, he found his fiancée talking over forensics on a different case with Dennis Creevey.

"Thanks Hermione," Dennis said with a smile as he and Hermione finished their conversation. "I don't know what we're going to do without you when you take the top job."

"I haven't taken it yet," Hermione replied.

"You will," Dennis said. "I can't think of anyone better to run our department. Isn't that right, Malfoy?"

"I may be biased, but I have to agree," Draco said. "You're the right witch for the job."

"We'll see," Hermione demurred as Dennis said his goodbyes and left the room. "Is everything okay?" she asked her fiancé as they headed into her office.

"I've just come to see if you've got anything on Bellatrix's medical records before we go and see her," Draco said as he leaned against Hermione's desk.

"Sorry, but I've been working on Dennis's robbery all morning, but I do have Bellatrix's records here," Hermione said apologetically as she tapped a file on her desk. "I can look over them this afternoon. What time are you due at Azkaban?"

"About now," Draco admitted with a slight wince.

"Are you worried about going there, or seeing your aunt?" Hermione asked as she wrapped her arms around Draco's neck and gently kissed the tip of his nose.

"Both," Draco confessed in a quiet voice. "I have no good memories of my aunt, and given what I now do for a living, I doubt she's going to be thrilled to see her only nephew. As for Azkaban itself, I tend to avoid it if I can, because when I'm there all I can think about is how close I came to ending up as an inmate there."

"You can't think like that Draco," Hermione said softly. "The past is over with, you need to focus on the future. Our future."

"I like the sound of that," Draco said with a smile. "Which reminds me, there's something I want to talk to you about tonight."

"I'll order us some food from that nice Italian around the corner, and we can talk," Hermione replied. "As it happens, there's something I want to talk about as well."

"Something good?" Draco asked.

"Hopefully," Hermione answered as she gave her fiancé a quick kiss. "Now off you go and do your job. Don't let Bellatrix or that place get to you, Draco."

"I won't," Draco vowed with a small smile.

Feeling more confident after his talk with Hermione, Draco headed back to the Auror department to pick up his partner. The pair then took the floo to Azkaban, where they were greeted by the governor of the prison. These days the Dementors were long gone and the prison was staffed by actual wizards, but it was still a bleak dismal place that no self-respecting person wished to end up.

"I'll bring the prisoners in one at a time, but I'm warning you now, you'll not get much out of Bellatrix," the governor said a she settled the two Aurors in one of the visiting cells. "She hasn't spoken for days."

"Is that normal?" Harry asked.

"No, she normally doesn't shut up. But then again, she is slightly tapped in the head," the governor said with a shrug. "No offence," he hastily added as he remembered Draco's connection to the woman in question.

"None taken," Draco assured the governor as he left to arrange their visits.

Rodolphus was the first to be brought to them and while he appeared shocked to see Draco, he didn't speak until he was secured to the chair opposite them and the guards had left them alone.

"Look at little Draco playing the part of an Auror," he greeted with a low chuckle.

"I'm not playing," Draco said firmly.

"Funny thing that, I've never heard of a Death Eater being an Auror before," Rodolphus continued as though Draco hadn't spoken.

"Draco was never a Death Eater," Harry said, sticking up for his partner. "Not in the same way you were. You're in here for a reason, Rodolphus."

"Yeah, I didn't have money and information to bargain like Lucius did," Rodolphus sneered. "How is Daddy, Draco? Is he enjoying the freedom he bought?"

"We're not here to talk about Draco or his father, we're here to ask you some questions," Harry said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of Cho, which he placed on the table in front of Rodolphus. "Remember her?"

"Sure, she was the pretty little thing asking questions about Bella a few months ago," Rodolphus replied with a casual shrug. "So what, now she's got Aurors on the case, has she? I'll say this for her, she's a plucky little thing."

"She's dead," Draco said. "Don't you read the papers, Rodolphus?"

"I don't actually," Rodolphus replied as some of his bluster seemed to vanish at the news of Cho's death. "But what does this have to do with me? I saw the girl once, months ago. I had nothing to do with her death."

"We weren't suggesting you did have anything to do with her death," Harry said. "We want to talk to you about what she was doing visiting you. She was asking questions about your wife, wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was asking about Bellatrix and I'm going to tell you the same thing I told her," Rodolphus spat. "I was not the one who knocked up my wife. We barely touched, let alone did the deed."

"So she was pregnant?" Harry asked.

"Hell if I know," Rodolphus snorted. "But if she did have a kid, it wasn't mine."

"Then whose would it be?" Draco asked.

"Don't be so stupid, Draco," Rodolphus laughed. "You saw the way she was with him. Who do you think she was shagging? Because it certainly wasn't me."

"Are you saying Bellatrix had Voldemort's child?" Harry questioned, enjoying the way Rodolphus still flinched at Voldemort's name even after all these years.

"I'm not saying nothing, but if she did have a sprog, my money would be on The Dark Lord fathering it."

"And she never mentioned this child to you?" Draco asked. "Not even when she dragged you and your brother along to torture the Longbottoms?"

"No, she never mentioned it," Rodolphus confirmed. "And as for the Longbottoms, I have no idea if there was a reason she went after them. They were part of the Order, and she blamed the Order for what had happened to The Dark Lord. I always thought she just wanted revenge for losing her lover."

"Did you tell all this to Cho?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Rodolphus answered with a nod. "I also asked her to keep me informed if she ever found out anything. When I hadn't heard anything, I assumed she'd hit a brick wall and the story was pure nonsense."

"I'm sure the story is pure nonsense," Draco said. "And just for the record, we won't be keeping you informed of what we find out. You'll just have to go to your grave wondering if your wife had a love child."

"Better than going to my grave knowing I betrayed everything my family ever stood for," Rodolphus retorted as Harry called for the guards to come and remove him from the visiting area. "I hope you're proud of yourself Draco. The Malfoys would have gone down in history as something special, but you and your cowardice ruined all of that. Now you'll all just be remembered as blood traitors."

"Ignore him," Harry whispered to his partner as Rodolphus was escorted from the room. "You haven't ruined your family's reputation. If anything, you saved it."

"Thanks Harry," Draco said quietly, appreciative of his partner's support.

As their thoughts turned to their next interview, Draco and Harry fell silent. A moment later the silence was broken as the door opened again and this time Bellatrix was brought into the room. At first Bellatrix appeared sullen and withdrawn, but the second she spotted Draco, her eyes lit up with mischief.

"Draco," she cooed smirking at her nephew. "Aren't you the handsome grown up boy? Too bad you're bedding a mudblood."

"Do not even mention Hermione," Draco snarled.

"Your father must be so disgusted with you," Bellatrix continued. "And my poor sister, she must be so ashamed of you."

"Enough," Harry yelled, banging his hand down on the table. "We're not here for a chat, Bellatrix."

"Oh, it's little bitty Potter," Bellatrix cackled. "Still missing Sirius are you? I can't say I miss him very much. One of the best things I ever did was get rid of him."

"And your child? Did you get rid of them in the same way?" Draco asked, sensing that Harry was about ready to reach across the table and strangle the witch sitting opposite them.

"So that's why you're here," Bellatrix said with a bitter laugh as she slumped back in her chair. "Don't bother, I won't tell you anything."

"But you talked to Cho?" Harry asked as he regained control of his temper.

"I wasn't going to, but the thing was, she believed me," Bellatrix replied. "I can see it in your eyes, you don't believe me. You don't think I ever had a son, do you Draco? You don't believe your cousin even exists?"

"What we believe doesn't matter," Draco said. "Cho's dead."

"So I read," Bellatrix replied, actually sounding genuinely sad. "I thought she was going to be the one to tell my story. I thought she was going to be the one to give me some peace."

"We can give you peace," Harry urged. "Just tell us what you told Cho, and we can help you. We can find her killer, and if you really do have a son, we can find him for you."

"I know where he is, I've known for years," Bellatrix cackled.

"Then why not say something earlier?" Draco asked.

"I did," Bellatrix spat. "But no-one believed me and then I was locked up in here for years."

"What about when you were out last time?" Harry pressed. "You were out for over two years, yet you never mentioned this to anyone. You didn't even tell your own family."

"Too much time had passed," Bellatrix answered with a shrug. "I wasn't going to get him back, so why ruin his life? The time to do something was back when he was little, and I tried that. I tried to find my son, and yet I was the one who ended up in Azkaban."

"For torturing two innocent people," Draco pointed out.

"They weren't innocent," Bellatrix spat. "They knew where my son was and they wouldn't tell me. All they had to do was tell me where he was, and I would have stopped. But they kept quiet, they kept my son from me and they got what they deserved."

"Did you tell all this Cho?" Harry asked.

"I did," Bellatrix confirmed. "And before you ask, I also told her who my son was."

"Tell us Bella," Draco urged, leaning towards his aunt. "Please. You seemed to like Cho, help us find her killer."

"No," Bellatrix answered with a stubborn shake of her head. "I'd learnt to deal with my pain and she brought it all up again. She gave me hope that the truth would emerge and I would get some closure when my son discovered the truth. I don't believe you will do that for me, so I won't tell you anything else. The identity of my son will remain with me, and nothing will get it out of me."

With a defiant glare, Bellatrix sat back in her chair and refused to speak another word to the two Aurors. After another ten minutes of trying to prise more information out of her, Draco and Harry gave up and sent her back to her cell. They then took a few moments to digest what they'd learnt.

"Do you believe her?" Harry asked.

"I believe that she believes it," Draco answered. "Whether it's true or not is another matter. But I'd bet every galleon in my Gringotts vault that Bellatrix genuinely believes she's a got a son out there."

"That's what I was thinking," Harry said with a nod. "I still don't know if Bellatrix did have a child, but I do think she believes the story she's telling. Let's hope Hermione can shed some light on the matter when she checks Bellatrix's medical records."

"Let's hope so," Draco agreed as the pair left Azkaban and returned to the Ministry before finishing up for the night and heading to their respective homes for an evening with the witches they loved.


	7. Chapter 6

Once Draco had left for Azkaban, Hermione settled down in her office to go over Bellatrix's medical records. Hermione had requested the file through the official channels, but she'd also spoken to a friend she'd gone through medical training with who now worked in the records department of St Mungo's and asked her if anyone else had try to look at Bellatrix's records. Hermione's friend had confirmed that a witch matching Cho's description had been asking about Bellatrix's medical records, but officially she'd been turned away without seeing them. However, unofficially Hermione's friend reckoned that her boss, a middle aged long term singleton wizard, could possibly have been persuaded to give Cho a glimpse at the file if she'd flirted with him.

Suspecting that Cho had indeed seen Bellatrix's records, Hermione herself began to check them out. Even though the information she wanted was dated thirty years ago, Hermione started at the beginning of the file. There were several entries for when Bellatrix was smaller and attended regular health checks as a baby, and then there was a few sporadic entries as she grew up. When she was fifteen she was officially prescribed the contraceptive potion, and the prescription was renewed for several years in a row, until the summer after she left school. Then there was nothing until her medical check upon her first incarceration in Azkaban.

"That can't be right," Hermione muttered, turning back through the file and finding she hadn't missed anything.

From leaving school, Bellatrix seemingly never saw healer again until she was sent to Azkaban. As was still the case now, inmates of Azkaban all received a medical check-up before being transported to the wizarding prison so the authorities could be aware of any health problems. Not that Bellatrix looked to have health problems, as the report Hermione read had her in perfect health upon her incarceration.

Just to be sure she hadn't missed anything Hermione read the report twice, and on the second time she picked up on something interesting. While Bellatrix was passed fit and healthy, minute traces of several potions ingredients were found in her system, including lavender and camomile. Jotting down the traces found in Bellatrix's system along with the amounts, Hermione studied the list and used her potions knowledge to work out just what sort of potion Bellatrix had been taking.

"A calming draught," Hermione muttered to herself as she put the pieces together. "And possibly quite a strong one with both lavender and camomile present."

The only problem was, Hermione didn't think Bellatrix was the sort of person to drink calming draughts. Every time Hermione had seen her she'd been pretty manic, and not at all calm. Plus Hermione had read the reports on what had happened to the Longbottoms back in school when Bellatrix had escaped from Azkaban and Neville had confided what had happened to his parents, and they had not made pleasant reading. From all accounts, Bellatrix had been wild when she attacked the Longbottoms.

Mulling over what the remains of the potion could mean, Hermione turned back to the rest of the file. Over her years in Azkaban Bellatrix received the annual check-up all inmates received, but there was nothing of interest to report. Then there was another break during which she'd been free, before another medical report upon her second imprisonment and subsequent check-ups.

There was not one thing in her medical records that indicated that Bellatrix had ever had a child, but there were a few things Hermione wanted to look into further. Grabbing her bag and her official ID as the Ministry's Forensics Pathologist, Hermione checked that her team wouldn't need her before she headed off to St Mungo's and their records department.

Hermione's friend wasn't on duty, but the wizard who was on duty had no problems letting Hermione into the record room once she'd flashed her ID, and made it clear she was needing information as part of a murder inquiry. Once in the record room, Hermione randomly asked for the files of half a dozen known Death Eaters who'd been active during the first war.

Once she had the files, Hermione flicked to when each Death Eater had left school and started from there. As she suspected they were all like Bellatrix and had no entries for years. There was a whole block of their lives, often going on for a decade, when they didn't seem to seek any sort of medical help. Their records only started being updated again following Voldemort's disappearance the night he killed Harry's parents.

Making copies of what she'd found, Hermione thanked the wizard and headed back to the ministry. Instead of going back to her office, Hermione went to the conference room where the investigation was being run from to find Ron doing some further background research into Cho.

"Draco and Harry are still at Azkaban," Ron said, smiling at Hermione as she entered.

"I thought they might be," Hermione replied. "But I think I might have something for you to look into."

"Great," Ron enthused, pushing his work to one side as Hermione sat down beside him. "So what have you got?"

"First I have a medical report from when Bellatrix first went to Azkaban," Hermione began, fishing the relevant pieces of paper out of her bag and placing them on the table in front of Ron. "Notice the remnants of ingredients in her blood," she said, pointing out the list of potions ingredients she'd highlighted.

"And this is unusual?" Ron asked with a shrug.

"It's the remnants of a potion," Hermione explained.

"Which Potion?" Ron asked. His Potions knowledge wasn't the best, so even with a list of partial ingredients, he had no idea which potion had been in Bellatrix's bloodstream upon her arrest.

"A calming draught," Hermione answered. "A very strong, calming draught, I might add. Normally your just use either lavender or camomile, but she had both in her system. The only time I've seen both used in conjunction is when people have suffered a major trauma and need something with a bit more of a boost than the normal calming draught."

"Bellatrix does not strike me as a witch who takes a calming draught," Ron remarked. "Especially not given what she did to Neville's parents. I've been looking at her arrest record, and she was wild when she was arrested."

"That's because the potion was almost out of her system," Hermione said. "There's such minute traces in her system that I think her last dose was six to eight weeks previously."

"How is this important?" Ron asked.

"I don't know if it's important, but I think it's interesting to note that Bellatrix arrived at Azkaban in the middle of December, and Voldemort had disappeared on Halloween."

"Six to eight weeks previously," Ron said with a chuckle as he did the maths in his head. "Are you telling me you think Voldemort had Bellatrix dosed up on calming draughts?"

"I don't know, I'm just telling you the facts," Hermione replied. "The fact is around the time Voldemort disappeared, Bellatrix had a really strong calming draught in her system. Potions that strong are not designed to just be withdrawn cold turkey, they're meant to be weakened and eventually stopped when the patient is ready to deal with whatever trauma they'd needed the potion to help them deal with in the first place."

"So what would instantly coming off a potion that strong do to her?" Ron asked.

"Different people react different ways, but I think it could well have played some part in the wild, violent way she went after the Longbottoms," Hermione answered.

"We can't prove this though, can we?" Ron asked. "What you're saying fits the facts you've found, but can we prove it? Can we prove Voldemort was drugging Bellatrix?"

"No, and that brings me to my next discovery," Hermione replied as she removed the rest of Bellatrix's file from her bag and placed it on the table. "Prior to her arrest and medical check, Bellatrix hadn't seen a healer since just after she left Hogwarts, roughly ten years previously."

"So what?" Ron shrugged, not seeing the significance. "Maybe she was healthy."

"I know people in the wizarding world don't see healers as much as muggles see doctors because there's so much potions and spells can fix, but to go ten years without needing medical advice is a bit much. Especially when you consider she was Death Eater at the time and there was a war going on. Are you seriously telling me she wasn't hurt once in ten year while fighting at Voldemort's side? And let's be honest, she wasn't the hanging back type. We faced nearly three years of full on warfare, Ron, and we were all badly hurt at one time or another. So how did Bellatrix survive ten years without needing to see a healer?"

"Put it like that and it's strange," Ron admitted.

"And it gets stranger," Hermione said with a small smile as she pulled out the copies she'd made at St Mungo's. "Before I came to see you, I went to St Mungo's. I randomly checked half a dozen records of Death Eaters and they're all the same as Bellatrix's. Shortly after leaving school they drop off the medical radar and then reappear after Voldemort's disappearance. We can get more records, but I'd bet my reputation on them all being the same. Not one of his Death Eaters sought medical attention during the first war."

"Or at least it wasn't recorded if they did," Ron said as she flicked through the information Hermione had provided him with. "You're right, there is something off here. I'm sure not everyone needed medical attention during the war, but for all of them not to, is impossible."

"We need to find out where the Death Eaters were treated," Hermione said. "And that is where we might just find out if Bellatrix was ever pregnant."

"We need to talk to someone who would know where to look," Ron said. "Do you think Draco would mind speaking to his father?"

"I'll ask him tonight," Hermione said as she got to her feet. "But until we can find out where the Death Eaters received medical attention during the first war, I can't progress with Bellatrix. Unless of course she's been oh so kind and told Harry and Draco everything they needed to know."

"Somehow I doubt it," Ron replied. "You ask Draco to talk to his father, but I'll also look into it."

Saying her goodbyes to Ron, Hermione left everything she'd discovered with him as she headed back to her office to finish up for the evening. Once she was finished, she left the Ministry and headed to the Italian place around the corner to where she and Draco lived. Placing her order, she then waited for it to be ready before heading home and putting it on plates, which she magically enchanted to stay warm, before Draco arrived home.

When Hermione heard the floo at first she thought it was Draco coming home, but then she heard the voice of his best friend, Blaise Zabini. Hermione entered the floo room to find Blaise's head sitting in the emerald green flames. Hermione was rather surprised to see him as she thought he was still on holiday in the Caribbean, but then again she'd been busy just lately and she couldn't quite remember when Draco had said his best friend had been due home.

"Hermione, you're looking great," Blaise greeted with a grin. "Is Draco in? Daphne and I wanted to pop around to say hello."

"He's due back from work any minute," Hermione replied. "Come on through and join us for dinner. I've just brought some Italian back, and it should be enough to spread around."

"Sounds great, we'll be there in a flash," Blaise said as his head vanished from the flames.

A couple of minutes later, the floo lit up again and this time Blaise stepped from the flames. Blaise's long term girlfriend, Daphne Greengrass, was right behind them and Hermione greeted them both warmly as she offered them a drink.

"I'll sort the drinks," Blaise offered. "You two catch up. But no sharing our news, Daph."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Daphne replied, rolling her eyes at Blaise as he sauntered out of the room.

"What news?" Hermione whispered as the two witches made their way into the front room, her mind instantly turning to the news she was hoping to share with Draco that evening.

"Blaise will kill me if I let it slip, so my lips are sealed until Draco is here," Daphne replied. "So I guess we'll just have to talk about you instead. How are things going with you, Hermione?"

"Things are great," Hermione replied as Blaise returned with the drinks. "If you don't count the fact we're investigating a murder and Draco has spent the afternoon at Azkaban talking to his aunt."

"That must have been hard on him," Blaise said sympathetically as he handed both Hermione and Daphne a glass of wine and sat down with the beer he'd gotten for himself.

"He wasn't looking forward to it," Hermione said with a sigh as she placed her untouched wine glass down on the table beside the sofa.

"Luckily we're here to brighten up his day," Blaise said with a grin as they all heard the floo network activate again, followed by the sound of Draco entering the building.

Hermione got up go and greet her fiancé, but before she could even cross the room, Draco appeared in the doorway. He looked pensive and tense, but he brightened as he greeted Hermione and spotted his friends in attendance.

"I hope you don't mind us gate-crashing your evening," Daphne said as she and Blaise said hello to Draco.

"Of course not," Draco replied with a smile. "Just let me go and get changed and we can eat."

While Draco was getting changed, Hermione and Daphne headed into the dining room while Blaise grabbed Draco a drink before he also joined them. A few minutes later, Draco returned and sitting down next to Hermione, the two couples dove into the Italian feast and chatter and laughter filled the room.

"I love Italian, it's so delicious," Daphne said.

"So you tell me every time we're in bed together," Blaise joked.

"Idiot," Daphne retorted with a laugh and an affectionate smile.

"So do we get to hear your big news now?" Hermione asked, suddenly remembering the reason for their friends' unexpected visit.

"Big news?" Draco questioned, looking at the couple sitting opposite him. "Don't tell me, Daphne's pregnant."

"No, I'm not pregnant," Daphne replied with a smirk as she reached into her pocket and pulled something out. Sliding a delicate silver ring onto a finger on her left hand, she turned it around and wiggled it in front of Draco and Hermione.

"You're engaged," Hermione gasped, thrilled for her friends. They'd actually been together longer than she and Draco, but every time marriage was mentioned, Blaise merely laughed and said he wasn't the marrying kind.

"Actually we're married," Blaise announced.

"Married?" Draco repeated, his mouth dropping open in shock.

"It was kind of spur of the moment," Blaise admitted with a shrug. "While we were on holiday, it just felt like the perfect time to propose, even though I didn't have a ring."

"Or a plan, you just blurted it out while we were out on the yacht," Daphne laughed.

"You accepted though," Blaise pointed out.

"I did," Daphne replied, smiling at her husband.

"So how did that lead to you actually getting married?" Hermione asked.

"After we celebrated our engagement, and by celebrated I mean shagged all over the yacht in every position imaginable," Blaise said.

"Blaise," Daphne scolded, giving her husband's arm a slap. "Draco and Hermione do not need to know how we celebrated our engagement."

"They celebrated the same way, Draco told me," Blaise said with a shrug.

"Blaise," Draco hissed as Hermione turned to stare at him. "I didn't say that, honest," he protested to his fiancée.

"Yes you did," Blaise argued. "You said you were at it like rabbits all weekend."

"Let's get back to the point shall we," Daphne said, jumping in before her husband put his foot in it even further. "We were just talking about the wedding, and we both decided we didn't want a big fuss. We don't see much of Blaise's mother, and after what happened with Astoria, we're not exactly close with my parents either. So we decided to just take the plunge there and then. We got married on the beach at midnight in the most romantic ceremony."

"And now we're going to throw the biggest wedding party for our friends," Blaise announced grandly. "But we wanted you two to be the first to know."

"Congratulations," Hermione gushed as she hugged both Blaise and Daphne. "I want to hear all the details," she said to Daphne.

"Good on you, mate," Draco said to Blaise, clapping his best friend on the shoulder, before giving Daphne a hug.

"Sorry you didn't get a chance to be best man," Blaise said. "But I was sort of hoping you would still give a speech at the party."

"Of course I will," Draco replied with a grin.

Moving back through to the front room, the two couples spent the rest of the evening chatting and laughing together. By the time Blaise and Daphne left, Hermione decided that the time wasn't right to share her news with Draco. The evening had belonged to Daphne and Blaise and their good news, and even though they'd gone home, Hermione still didn't feel right about broaching the topic she wanted to discuss with her fiancé.

"Are you sure it's not important?" Draco asked when she told him that they could talk another time.

"It can wait," Hermione assured him. "And what about you. You also said you wanted to talk about something."

"Again, it can wait," Draco said. "To be honest what I really fancy right now is an early night."

"Your wish is my command," Hermione said with a smile as she took Draco by the hand and led him into the bedroom for an early night and a bit of T.L.C.


	8. Chapter 7

The group meeting took place late on the morning as the group were each doing their own thing for the first part of the day. Hermione was in her office working on other cases as well as checking on how the analysis of the Bugs-Bee-Gone potion was coming along. Ron and Harry were looking at the people in the Order thirty years ago, to see if any of them might be able to help them with the investigation, while Draco was speaking to his father about how Death Eaters injuries were treated during the first war.

"Please say we've got something to go on," Harry said with a sigh as the foursome settled down for the meeting.

"Our analysis of the potions should be ready by the morning," Hermione said. "This time tomorrow we'll know for sure if the potion was bought or home-made."

"Let's hope it's home-made as so far none of the shops I've spoken to keep records for the Herbology potions they sell," Ron said. "I think after this, we might need to speak to Kingsley about tightening the rules to include dangerous potions not made for human consumption."

Hermione nodded in agreement, before asking how Harry and Ron had gotten along trying to find old members of the Order to help them out.

"We've just got the usual suspects," Harry said with a sigh. "Although I'm wary of talking to them until we know what's going on. The last thing I want is for rumours of Bellatrix's claims to get out. We need to know more before we talk to anyone else. Do you have anything for us, Draco?"

"I do," Draco replied. "I spoke to father, and he confirmed that no Death Eaters will have anything on their medical records from the first war. Voldemort had a couple of healers on his side, and for minor injuries he paid them to patch people up away from the hospital."

"Surely not everything could be patched up outside of a hospital though," Hermione said.

"No, that's why he also had a private clinic on his side," Draco answered. "Father visited it once, although he can't remember the name of the place. All he could remember was that it was in Ireland, near to Dublin."

"I can check out the records," Ron said. "The magical community is fairly small in Ireland, so it shouldn't be too hard to track the clinic down."

"There's also something else," Draco said. "Now this is just rumours, but Father heard that serious injuries were treated at a private clinic in France. According to the rumours he heard the clinic was near to the border with Belgium and the Death Eaters travelled via Belgium, so there was never any record of them being in France."

"Rumour or not, we need to check it out," Harry said. "Ron, could you find out about clinics in France?"

"There's no need, I can help you there," Draco said. "I did work in France for years," he added when the three former Gryffindors gave him curious looks. "And from my experience, there's two private clinics near the border."

"We need to check them out," Harry said.

"Actually, I think one is a stronger possibility than the other," Draco said. "One of them only admits French citizens, and it's been that way since it opened. I don't even think Voldemort could have changed their policy. I think we should start with the other one."

"Why don't you and Hermione head over to France this afternoon," Harry suggested. "When Ron finds the address of the clinic in Ireland, we could pay them a visit. And if one of us finds anything, they can send for the others."

"Sounds good to me," Draco said, smiling at his fiancée. "Are you up for a trip to France, babe?"

"Sounds like a good way to spend the afternoon," Hermione replied. Fortunately, her team had everything under control down in the forensics lab and she would be able to spend the afternoon with Draco.

"I'll get on with finding the address in Ireland," Ron said as he got to his feet.

An hour later, Ron had two possible private clinics in Ireland for him and Harry to visit. While Harry and Ron headed off to Ireland, Hermione and Draco headed to the French Ministry before continuing onto the private clinic. Draco was quietly confident that they would have more success than Harry and Ron, but even then he still wasn't sure if they would get all the answers they needed to really get the case going.

At the clinic, Draco flashed his official credentials at the witch on reception and asked to speak to the manager. They had to wait for nearly ten minutes, but finally a wizard in his early forties ushered them into his office and introduced himself as Marc Gibson.

"So what can I do for you Mr Malfoy?"

"We're investigating a murder and during our investigation an old case has come to light. We think this clinic might be able to help us track down some missing medical information," Draco said.

"All medical information is confidential," Marc replied with a frown.

"We could get a warrant, but we're hoping you wouldn't want an international incident," Hermione said. "The case we're looking into is thirty years old."

"I'll see what I can do to help," Marc replied, not liking the sound of causing a diplomatic incident. "Tell me the name of the patient, and I'll see if we still have records for them."

"Lestrange," Draco answered. "Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Would she have used Lestrange?" Hermione questioned. "If she was here because she was pregnant, she might not have used Lestrange since the baby wasn't Rodolphus's."

"Try Black then," Draco said. "It would have been around thirty years ago."

"We'll need to go into the records room," Marc said as he rose to his feet.

The records room was next door to the manager's office, and it consisted of rows of metal drawers. Marc headed down towards the back of the room and located the drawers which would hold the records from the right time period.

"No Lestrange," he said, flicking through one drawer before looking into another. "Now here we go, there's a Black. What did you say the first name was again?"

"Bellatrix," Draco answered.

"Sorry, no Bellatrix," Marc replied with a shake of his head.

"Do you mind if I ask what Black you do have a record for?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure I should be doing this," Marc muttered. "But for some reason, I like the pair of you and want to help. The file we have is for a Narcissa Black."

"Narcissa?" Draco gasped. "That's my mother. But she would have been a Malfoy thirty years ago, she wouldn't be using her maiden name."

"Maybe Bellatrix used her sister's name," Hermione suggested. "Can we look at the file?"

"If it's going to be a problem, I can contact my mother and get her to give us permission to view it since it's in her name," Draco offered.

"I like that idea as it covers us legally," Marc said as he retrieved the file from the drawer. "You can use the floo in my office to get permission from your mother."

Returning to the office, Draco contacted his mother and got her to send her written permission for them to view the file, even though she was adamant she'd never visited a private clinic in France. Once they had written permission and the clinic was legally covered, Marc handed over the file for Hermione and Draco to look at.

"The first appointment was in January," Hermione said as she opened the file. "It was confirmation of a pregnancy, which was dated at twelve weeks. Then there seems to be an appointment every couple of weeks."

"Every couple of weeks, isn't that a bit much?" Draco questioned.

"It is rather unusual," Hermione replied. "Such regular check-ups indicate a potential problem, but there's nothing in the notes. In fact, it seems like a healthy pregnancy."

"When did she have the baby?" Draco asked.

"Give me a chance, I don't want to miss anything," Hermione said as she carefully flicked through the file, which was annoyingly thin and lacking any significant details. "Ah, here's an appointment for the middle of June. We can now definitely rule out Narcissa as the patient."

"How?" Marc asked curiously.

"I was born at the beginning of June," Draco explained. "It's impossible for these records to belong to my mother as she'd already given birth to me."

"Here we go," Hermione said as she continued through the records. "She was admitted on the twenty eight of July to give birth and she was discharged on the second of August."

"What about the baby?" Draco asked.

"There's no mention of how the birth went," Hermione said with a frown, flicking through the remaining blank pages in case she's missed anything. "In fact this entire record is very basic. There's no real details at all."

"Maybe we need to speak to the healer who treated her," Draco suggested.

"Healer Norris," Hermione read.

"Healer Norris retired several years ago, and then I'm afraid he died a couple of years ago," Marc informed the pair.

"Damn," Draco swore. "He was our last lead."

"Maybe not," Marc said. "Our Healers usually work with the same Medi-Witch for continuity for our patients. The scheme was just starting thirty years ago, but I could look and see if Healer Norris had a regular Medi-Witch he worked with."

"That would be great," Draco said with a grateful smile as Marc gathered up the file with Narcissa's name on and left the office to try and find the information they needed.

Ten minutes later not only did he return with the name of the Medi-Witch, Healer Norris worked with, but he'd been in contact with her and she was willing to talk to them in person. Marc gave them the address of a nearby café, and told them that the Medi-Witch, Collette Kennedy, would meet them there in an hour.

"I should send for Harry and Ron," Draco said as the couple left the private clinic. "If this Collette is going to have information, they should be here to hear it."

"They should," Hermione agreed. "Besides, they can't be getting anywhere. You should ask them to bring pictures of Bellatrix just to be sure she's the witch we're talking about."

"Who else could it be?" Draco questioned, but he still sent the request for pictures when he contacted his partner and brought him up to date.

Harry and Ron definitely wanted to be part of the discussion and they arrived in France slightly less than an hour later. Draco just had time to fill them in on what they'd found out before a smart looking witch in her mid-sixties came over to them and introduced herself as Collette Kennedy.

"Thank you for talking to us, Mrs Kennedy," Draco said politely as he introduced everyone and bought the former Medi-Witch a drink.

"Marc said you had legal permission from the witch in question to discuss the case," Collette said. "Although that's providing I remember the case. I have treated a lot of patients."

"We understand," Hermione said with a sympathetic smile. "All we ask is for you to try and remember the case in question."

"I should tell you we actually have permission of the witch whose name is on the medical file, not the patient herself," Draco said. "That witch is my mother, but we know she's not the witch you treated thirty years ago. We actually think that was my aunt, using my mother's name. But legally, my mother's permission is the one we need, since it's her name on the records."

"Although we would like to clarify who we're talking about," Harry said as he removed the picture of Bellatrix from his pocket. Instead of finding a recent picture, Ron had found a one of her taken around the time of her initial arrest. "Is this the witch you treated thirty years ago?"

Colleen studied the picture for a long time before she nodded her head and gave the picture back to Harry. "Yes, we treated her thirty years ago."

"You can remember her?" Ron checked.

"Vividly," Colleen said with a sigh. "Such a tragic case."

"Can you tell us about her?" Hermione asked.

"I can't say I can remember her initially coming in, but I can remember her husband being extra protective of the baby and insisting on regular check-ups," Colleen explained. "We tried to explain that they didn't need check-ups every couple of weeks, but he was adamant and quite honestly he was rather scary."

"Was there a problem with the pregnancy?" Hermione asked.

"No, it was a really smooth pregnancy," Colleen answered. "It was the birth where the problems began. It all started off fine, but then she and the baby got into difficulties. To be honest, we thought we were going to lose them both. It was awful, but the child died before we could get him out."

"And Bellatrix?" Harry asked.

"Is that the mother?" Colleen asked.

"Yes," Harry replied.

"She required an emergency procedure to save her life, and it resulted in her being unable to have more children," Colleen explained. "She was touch and go for a while, but she came round. That was then the real problems began. She refused to believe her son was dead. Not even her husband could talk her round. She was ranting and raving about some man called Dumbledore snatching her child. She was convinced her baby had been taken. I personally think she should have been kept in the clinic or even being admitted to another hospital, but her husband wanted her out. He discharged her and assured us that he would make sure she faced the truth. I never saw either of them again, so I don't know how it worked out."

"It didn't work out very well actually," Draco said, glancing at Hermione beside him who was wiping at her eyes. "I don't think my aunt has ever accepted her son is dead. We spoke to her yesterday and she's adamant he's alive."

"He's not," Colleen said sadly. "He was dead and we tried, but we couldn't save him."

Knowing that they had what they'd come for, Harry and Draco thanked Colleen for her time and ended the interview. Once she'd gone the foursome took a few minutes to digest what they'd been told. It still didn't help them work out who Bellatrix thought her son was, but at least now they knew why she was making such claims.

"It's so sad," Hermione whispered.

"It is," Draco agreed. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"I am, but I really need to talk to you," Hermione replied.

"Why don't you two take the rest of the day and we can catch up tomorrow morning," Harry offered. "Ron and I can go back to the office and get back to looking at the Order. We now know for sure they never took a baby, but we can still talk to them and see if Bellatrix approached anyone else other than the Longbottoms."

"I also think we need to arrange another visit to see Bellatrix," Ron said. "Now we know the full story we might be able to get more sense out of her."

"I wouldn't count on it, but let's do it," Draco said to Ron, before turning to his fiancée. "There's a park across the road, do you fancy a walk?"

"Yes," Hermione replied with a nod.

Saying goodbye to Harry and Ron, Draco and Hermione headed across to the park where they had a walk around the park before settling down on a bench. Draco could tell Colleen's story had affected Hermione, but he suspected that there was something else going on with his fiancée.

"Is there anything wrong?" Draco asked, taking hold of Hermione's hand.

"Not wrong exactly, but there is something I need to tell you," Hermione said as she took a deep sigh and confessed the secret she'd been keeping for the last couple of weeks. "I'm pregnant."


	9. Chapter 8

Draco stared at Hermione in shock, not quite able to believe what he was hearing. He hadn't even suspected anything was going on with Hermione, so it was quite a shock to discover that she was pregnant. Especially as he was under the impression she was on a contraceptive potion.

"You're not happy, are you?" Hermione asked sadly, trying not to get too upset by Draco's lack of response.

"I don't know what I am," Draco replied honestly. "This has all come rather out of the blue."

"I was as shocked as you when I found out," Hermione said.

"When did you find out?" Draco asked.

"A couple of weeks ago, just after Kingsley approached me about taking the job as head of the department," Hermione answered.

"And that's why you've been taking so long to decide about the job," Draco said.

"I knew I needed to talk to you before making any final decisions," Hermione replied. "Plus Kingsley might want to rescind his offer now I'm pregnant."

"I don't get why you didn't tell me earlier," Draco said quietly, a hurt look on his face. "If you've known for a couple of weeks, why not tell me sooner?"

"I didn't know how you were going to react," Hermione confessed. "We've never really spoken about kids and when I tried to quiz you, you made it clear that children were way off in the future for you."

"When was this?" Draco asked with a slight frown, not remembering Hermione quizzing him about children.

"At Harry's party," Hermione said. "After what you said then, I sort of put off raising the subject in case you were unhappy with the news. I was then going to talk to you last night, but then Blaise and Daphne arrived and after your trip to Azkaban, it just didn't seem the right time."

"Did you really think I wouldn't be happy about this?" Draco asked his fiancée, staring into her eyes and seeing how worried she was.

"I just didn't know," Hermione replied softly. "And I didn't want to lose you."

"You won't lose me, Hermione, I love you," Draco said sincerely as he cupped Hermione's cheek in his hand. "And I will love our child when it's born. It might be an unplanned pregnancy, but there's no doubt in my mind that this child will be loved."

"So you're happy about the pregnancy?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"I'm still rather stunned, but of course I'm happy," Draco said, smiling back at Hermione. "How could I be anything but happy when the witch I love is carrying my son and heir?"

"It could be a girl," Hermione said with a laugh.

"It's a boy," Draco replied with confidence as he placed his hand on Hermione's still flat stomach. "First born Malfoys are always boys."

"Boy or girl, it doesn't matter to me," Hermione said. "I'll love the baby just the same."

"So will I," Draco said. "I can't believe I'm going to be a father," he chuckled. "It's going to take some getting used to."

"You've got nearly seven months," Hermione replied.

"So what about this job offer?" Draco asked, wrapping his arm around Hermione's shoulders and nestling her against his side as they admired the view in the park. "Are you going to take it?"

"I don't know if Kingsley will still want me now I'm pregnant," Hermione confessed.

"Being pregnant doesn't take away from your ability to run the department," Draco said. "Do you want to take the job?"

"Yes, I do," Hermione replied with a decisive nod. Deep down she'd always known she'd wanted the job, but she'd just needed to tell Draco everything before making any decisions.

"In that case, you're going to go and see Kingsley tomorrow and accept the job," Draco said.

"What about the baby?" Hermione asked.

"Tell him about it, but I'd bet that it won't be an issue," Draco said, giving his fiancée a reassuring squeeze. "Even heads of department can take a few months off to have a baby."

"And afterwards? We're going to have to think about childcare."

"That would have been an issue even without the job offer," Draco pointed out. "We both work full time as it is, so we would have had to make arrangements anyway. You changing jobs shouldn't affect sorting our childcare. But we've got months to get everything in place, for now let's sort your new job and look forward to being parents."

"I wish I'd told you earlier," Hermione said, looking up at her fiancée. "I'm sorry for being such a coward."

"It's doesn't matter, you've told me now and that's all that matters," Draco replied as he gave Hermione a brief kiss. "And I guess this is a good as time as any to talk to you about what I was going to mention last night."

"I hope it's good," Hermione said.

"Actually, given your news, I think it could be perfect," Draco replied with a smile. "I was going to ask you how you felt about moving."

"Where to?" Hermione asked.

"Somewhere quiet in the countryside," Draco replied. "I was thinking we could make the move sometime after we got married before we had children, but we could try and move before the baby is born. I just think it would be nice for out child to have a proper house and a proper garden to play in. I also like the idea of the countryside because that's where I grew up and as much as I like London, I often miss the peace and quiet of the country."

"That sounds ideal," Hermione said with a wide smile. "I've always wanted to live in the country."

"Everything is coming together perfectly," Draco said with a laugh as he swept Hermione up into his arms and gave her a searing kiss. "I love you, Hermione Granger."

"I love you too, Draco Malfoy," Hermione returned as the couple shared another kiss before leaving the park and heading back to the French Ministry so they could go home and celebrate their good news.

* * *

The following morning, Hermione walked into the conference room with a beaming smile on her face. She felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders now she'd told Draco about the baby, and to top things off she'd just come from an early morning meeting with Kingsley, where she'd accepted the job as head of department and informed him of her pregnancy.

"Someone looks happy," Ron remarked, smiling at his best friend's obvious happiness.

"That's because I am happy," Hermione returned, unable to wipe the smile off her face.

"And just what is making you so happy?" Harry asked, looking over at Draco and finding he was smiling almost as much as Hermione. "Actually, what is making you both so happy?"

"Should we tell them?" Hermione asked excitedly.

"Why not, they're going to find out soon enough," Draco said, moving so he was standing at his fiancée's side.

"What's going on?" Ron asked. "You can't be announcing your engagement because you're already engaged."

"We're having a baby," Hermione announced gleefully.

"That's excellent news," Harry beamed as he hugged both his best friend and his partner.

"It's great," Ron enthused, following Harry's lead and hugging the happy couple.

"It is early days, so we're still going to keep it quiet for a bit longer," Hermione cautioned.

"Our lips are sealed," Ron vowed.

"No-one outside of this room will know about the baby," Harry promised.

"Actually, one other person already knows," Hermione said. "I've just spoken to Kingsley and I mentioned my pregnancy to him."

"And what did he say?" Draco asked, knowing that his fiancée had told Kingsley about the baby as she was accepting his job offer to head the law department.

"He congratulated us, and he said it wouldn't be a problem," Hermione answered with a wide smile. "So you are now looking at the future head of the law department."

"You've taken the job?" Harry asked as yet again he and Ron hugged their best friend.

"I have," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "Once this case is finished, I'll wrap everything up and hand over to my assistant. I'll then have a few months in the job before I'll have to take maternity leave. But Kingsley promised me it wouldn't be an issue and that the job would be waiting for me after I've had the baby."

"That's great news," Ron said happily. "Now let's catch this killer so you can move on and become our boss."

"We really should get down to work," Harry said as they put aside their happiness for Hermione's news and settled down to get back to work.

"How about I begin," Hermione suggested as he removed some results from the file she'd brought with her. "We've analysed the potion in Cho's system and we've found subtle differences from the mass made version available in the shops. In my opinion, the Bugs-Bee-Gone used to poison Cho was a home-made version."

"In that case we're going to have to speak to Professor Sprout," Harry said. "We need to know just how many people know the recipe."

"I can do that," Ron offered. "And I've organised another appointment with Bellatrix for this afternoon."

"Do you really think that will achieve anything?" Draco asked. "She wouldn't tell us anything before, so what makes you think she'll talk now?"

"She might not, but it's worth a shot," Harry said. "Besides, we now know more than we did last time we spoke to her."

"Harry's right, you might get something out of her now you know the truth about her story," Hermione said.

"Speaking of which, I thought it might help if we ran through what we did know," Ron said, getting up and heading over to the white board with a marker in his hand.

"Okay, let's start with Cho," Harry said. "We know she was writing about Ministers of Magic when she got onto the story of Bellatrix's child. She spoke to Narcissa, who knew nothing about it, and Rodolphus, who insisted the child wasn't his. She then spoke to Bellatrix, and Bellatrix gave her a name of someone she's convinced is her son. Cho obviously went to speak to them, or someone associated with them. It's the only logical explanation."

"And what, they killed her?" Draco asked. "Why though? We know it's not true. Whoever Bellatrix thinks is her son, isn't. So why would someone kill Cho for asking questions?"

"Maybe whoever she was asking believed what she was saying," Hermione suggested. "Maybe they killed her to stop this story coming out."

"It's a bit far-fetched, but it's a theory I suppose," Draco said with a shrug. "Until we know who Bellatrix thinks is her son, we're at a bit of a stand still."

"Which is why we need to talk to her again," Harry said. "Now let's go over what we know about Bellatrix."

"We know she was pregnant and was treated at a private clinic under her sister's name," Hermione began. "We never clarified it, but it's looking like Voldemort was the father. She gave birth somewhere between the twenty eighth of July and the first of August, and the baby didn't survive. Given what happened, I'm leaning more towards the baby being born on the twenty eighth or ninth. When she found out what happened, Bellatrix refused to believe it and instead of dealing with her son's death, she convinced herself that Dumbledore had snatched him. I can't be certain, but I would say it was after she was discharged that Voldemort first dosed her with the heavy calming draught, more than likely to stop her going off the rails."

"And that carried on for just over a year," Ron picked up as he made notes on the board.

"Until he went after Harry and his parents," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "With Voldemort not around to dose her up, the potion began to wear off and Bellatrix fixated on finding her son. Did she go after the Longbottoms for any particular reason, or was it just bad luck on their part that she choose them?"

"Could it have anything to do with when Neville was born?" Harry asked. "He was born the day before me, and both of our birthdays fall around the time Bellatrix had her son. I would say logic dictates that she believes either Neville or I, to be her son. She couldn't come after me since my parents were dead and I was with the Dursleys, so that left Neville and his parents."

"I'm not sure logic applies to Bellatrix at this point," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Losing her son clearly unhinged her. I think more than likely she targeted the Longbottoms as she felt they would know something. For all we know they were the first on her list. She might have been going to go after Ron's family, or anyone else associated with the Order next. Because she was caught in the act, we'll never know if the Longbottoms were her only targets or just her first port of call."

"They would be my first port of call," Draco said thoughtfully, trying to put himself in his mad aunt's shoes. "Both of the Longbottoms were Aurors, and therefore would have been in a strong position to help Dumbledore deal with a child he'd kidnapped."

"It makes sense," Harry said with a nod. "If you were going to kidnap a child, it would help having friends in high places, and during the first war there was no better Auror than Frank Longbottom. He would have been the perfect person to help Dumbledore."

"I guess you're just going to have to ask all of this to Bellatrix," Ron said. "And if that fails, Harry, you could just ask her if you're her son."

"If she says yes, we're at a dead end though," Harry pointed out. "Because Cho didn't come to speak to me, and I've got no family she could have spoken to instead. If Bellatrix does think I'm her son, then we're completely and utterly lost and I honestly don't know where to go next."

"Let's not worry too much about what might happen," Hermione advised. "Harry, Draco, you go and pay another visit to Bellatrix and Ron and I will go and have a chat with Professor Sprout. Maybe she'll be the key to cracking this case."

"Let's hope so, because we need some help," Harry muttered as everyone got to their feet as the meeting came to an end.


	10. Chapter 9

Draco shivered slightly as he sat down next to Harry at the table in the interview room at Azkaban. They were waiting for Bellatrix to be brought in so they could talk to her again, but Draco wasn't holding his breath that they were going to get any answers from his aunt. Personally he thought the entire visit was going to be a waste of time, but he understood why Harry had thought they should make a second visit.

"Back again so soon, I am popular," Bellatrix purred as the door to the room opened and she was ushered inside by two guards and secured to the chair opposite Draco and Harry.

"We know the truth, Bellatrix," Harry said once the guards had backed out of the room and left them alone with the prisoner. "We know what happened to your son."

"Do you now?" Bellatrix questioned with a disbelieving smirk. "Somehow, I doubt it."

"We know you were being treated at a clinic in France, and we know you were using mother's name," Draco said.

"You have been busy bees," Bellatrix said, sounding slightly impressed with what the pair had managed to find out. "I'll admit, you're right so far. I did use a clinic in France during my pregnancy and I used Narcissa's name to keep any focus away from me. Not that it worked as they still got to my son."

"No-one got to your son, Bellatrix," Harry said gently. "We spoke to the medi-witch present at the birth. She told us that your son died, but you couldn't accept it."

"My son did not die," Bellatrix hissed, baring her teeth at Harry. If it wasn't for the fact she was restrained she would have leapt across the table and throttled him for daring to say her son was dead.

"He did," Draco whispered. "I'm sorry for what you went through Aunt Bella. I wouldn't wish losing a child on anyone. But you're not helping yourself by denying the truth."

"It's all lies," Bellatrix spat. "My son didn't die. I would know if he'd died. It was all a plan. They took my son and pretended that he'd died."

"If that was true, why not raise the alarm?" Harry asked, trying a different tactic on the deranged witch. "You didn't even tell your sister what had happened. Why keep quiet if you thought someone had taken your child?"

"Getting him back was all in hand," Bellatrix replied with a shrug. "The Dark Lord promised me that he would get my son back to me."

"Was that at the same time he was giving you a calming draught to keep you in line?" Draco asked.

"What calming draught?" Bellatrix frowned and both Aurors could see her confusion was genuine.

"Traces of the draught were found in your system after you were arrested the first time," Draco explained. "The effects wore off around the time Voldemort went after the Potters."

"You're lying," Bellatrix said with a stubborn shake of her head. "The Dark Lord would never have done that to me. He was the one helping me. He was going to reunite me with my son."

"By killing my parents?" Harry asked. "Is that why he came after them, to kill them so he could take me back to you?"

"You. You think you're my son?" Bellatrix cackled, throwing her head back as she laughed in amusement.

"Am I?" Harry questioned.

"As if I would have a loser like you as a son," Bellatrix sneered. "Relax Potter, you're not mine. You're the sole product of your blood traitor father and mudblood mother. You're nothing to do with me, thank Merlin."

"So if Harry isn't your son, who is?" Draco asked.

"Not telling you," Bellatrix replied in a sing-song voice.

"We can help you if you told us who he is," Harry urged. "Tell us who he is and we can do a test to determine his parentage. We can prove you're telling the truth, and we can prosecute everyone involved in taking your son."

"I don't need proof, I know my son is alive and I know who he is," Bellatrix replied, unmoved by Harry's offer of help. "I don't care who thinks I'm lying. I know the truth and that's all that matters."

"And what about getting justice for your son?" Draco asked. "Don't you want to see the people involved in his kidnapping pay for what they did to you?"

"They've already paid," Bellatrix replied with an evil grin. "Justice has already been done. Now if you don't mind, I want to go back to my cell. I have nothing more to say to you, and if you come and see me again, I won't utter a word to either of you."

"Is there someone else you would talk to?" Draco asked. "Mother, perhaps? She wants to see you."

"Your mother can go rot in hell for all I care," Bellatrix spat, glaring hatefully at Draco. "She's abandoned me for years, and now she only wants to come and see me because she feels sorry for me. Well, I don't need her pity, and I certainly don't need her. Narcissa made her choice to abandon me, so she can damn well live with it."

"She would have been there for you if you'd told her what happened," Draco said. He'd told his parents what they'd found out at the clinic the previous day, and Narcissa had been distraught that her sister had gone through such a traumatic experience and she hadn't been there for her.

"Narcissa stopped being there for me the second your father got his claws into her," Bellatrix sneered. "Once Lucius was on the scene, I was surplus to requirements. Then she had you, and I ceased to exist in her eyes. The only people who have every truly mattered to my sister is you and your father. I won't see Narcissa, so you might as well give up now."

"And is that what you're doing, Bellatrix, giving up?" Harry asked as Draco sat back and dropped the subject of his mother. "I suppose it's easier for you to hide away in here and pretend as though none of this matters. It would be much harder to face the past and tell your son the truth. What's wrong, are you afraid he's going to reject you?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," Bellatrix snarled. "If that bloody Cho Chang hadn't turned up, none of this would be happening. She stirred up old wounds, and you know what, I'm glad someone killed the nosey cow. I just hope she suffered before she died."

"Come on Harry, let's go," Draco said, placing a calming hand on his partners arm as he saw that Bellatrix's words had affected him deeply. "We're not going to get anything of any use here."

"Finally, he gets the message," Bellatrix laughed. "Maybe you're not as stupid as you look, Draco."

"Maybe I'm not," Draco replied. "It's just a shame you're as evil as you look."

Turning his back on his aunt, Draco walked out of the interview room with Harry and left the guards to deal with taking his aunt back to her cell. As expected it had been a pretty unproductive meeting, but at least they'd managed to confirm that Bellatrix wasn't under the illusion that Harry was her son. Although Draco did feel sorry for the poor sod she had decided was her son, as who wanted to be thought of as the son of Bellatrix Lestrange and Lord Voldemort?

* * *

While Draco and Harry were at the imposing fortress of Azkaban, interviewing a mad woman, Hermione and Ron were having a much nicer afternoon chatting to Professor Sprout. They'd found the former Herbology Professor at home, and she'd invited them both into her gorgeous garden for home-made lemonade and cherry scones.

"Thank you for the refreshments," Hermione said with a smile as beside her Ron polished off a second scone.

"Delicious," Ron said, smacking his lips appreciatively.

"Thank you," Sprout said with a slight chuckle. "Although I doubt the pair of you looked me up to have afternoon tea with me."

"We do have something official we wish to talk to you about," Hermione said. They'd already mentioned having some official business to discuss with the former Professor, but Sprout had insisted on having refreshments before they spoke. "It's about Cho Chang."

"Terrible business," Sprout said with a sad shake of her head. "She was always such a delightful young witch. She didn't have a great natural aptitude for Herbology, but she was a pleasure to teach. Do you know what happened to her yet?"

"We're still trying to find out who killed her and why, but we do know she was poisoned," Hermione answered. "Someone slipped some Bugs-Bee-Gone into her tea."

"No," Sprout gasped, her hand moving to her mouth in shock. "I created Bugs-Bee-Gone, and to think it's been used to kill a former student. It's so terrible."

"It is," Ron agreed sympathetically. "But tests have shown that the Bugs-Bee-Gone found in Cho's system doesn't quite match with the mass produced version of the product. We think it was a home-made version."

"You think I killed Cho?" Sprout questioned with a distressed sob.

"Of course not, Professor," Hermione said gently as she reached over the table and took hold of Professor Sprout's trembling hands. "We don't for one minute think you're a killer. We just need to know about your home made version of Bugs-Bee-Gone. For example, do you make it for friends or does anyone else know the exact recipe?"

"I do make it for friends," Sprout confirmed with a nod. "And when I taught at Hogwarts, I used to make it for the school gardens and for other Professors. Minerva used it on her roses, and Filius was a bit of an orchid collector. And of course, Rubeus used it around the grounds. I'm assuming he still uses it."

"Do you still make it for the other Professors?" Ron asked.

"Only Filius," Sprout replied. "He's retired like me and we meet up every month to have afternoon tea. I gave him a fresh container last time I saw him, which would be about three weeks ago."

"Could you give us a list of friends you make the potion for?" Ron asked.

"Of course," Sprout answered with a nod.

"And does anyone else but the potions company you sold it to know the recipe?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, I passed it along to Neville Longbottom when I retired," Sprout answered. "I know he makes it for Hogwarts, and I know he supplies Minerva with it for her roses. But Neville would never kill anyone, he's the sweetest boy I've ever met. He wouldn't harm a fly, let alone a person."

"We're not saying Neville is the killer either," Ron assured the former Professor. "Maybe the killer got hold of the potion by stealing it. Where do you keep your potion?"

"In my greenhouse," Sprout answered, gesturing to a large glass greenhouse that stood at the bottom of her garden. "But the greenhouse is warded against intruders, and I keep a very careful record of the potions use. I would know if something was missing, and since I nurtured Neville, I would bet he does the same with his supply. We both understand how dangerous any sort of potion can be in the wrong hands, and I suppose this is proof of it."

"Can we have a sample of your Bugs-Bee-Gone?" Ron asked. "We need to compare it against the sample we found in Cho's system."

"Of course you can," Sprout said as she jumped to her feet.

Hermione remained at the table while Ron headed down to the greenhouse with Professor Sprout to gather a sample of her home-made version of Bugs-Bee-Gone. With the sample gathered, the pair had another cup of tea with the former Professor before they said their goodbyes and headed back to the Ministry. Hermione immediately dropped the sample off at her lab and ordered that the tests be started immediately, before she joined the others in the conference room to debrief their afternoon findings.

"As expected is was a waste of bloody time," Draco said when Ron asked how the visit to Azkaban went. "She told us nothing."

"Not quite nothing, she did say I wasn't her son," Harry piped up.

"Do you believe her?" Ron questioned. Personally he didn't think Bellatrix would admit she did think Harry was her son, even if she did really think that.

"Yes, she was pretty brutal in dismissing me," Harry replied.

"Maybe we should have asked her about Longbottom," Draco remarked. "He was our other thought of who she could have latched onto as her son."

"Speaking of Neville, we need to visit him and get a sample of his Bugs-Bee-Gone," Ron said, quickly bringing Harry and Draco up to date with the result of their meeting with Professor Sprout.

"You can't seriously be saying you think Neville is a viable suspect in this?" Harry snorted, looking at the other three people in the room.

"Of course not," Hermione replied. "But we need the sample of his potion, and I suppose why you were doing that it wouldn't hurt to talk to him about Bellatrix. We did want to talk to some former members of the Order anyway, so maybe you could talk to his gran as well. Maybe they can point us in a different direction because at the minute we keep hitting a brick wall every way we turn."

Hoping that Hermione was right, Harry decided that he and Draco would visit Neville the following day. At the moment it felt as though the case was going nowhere, and they needed something to get it moving forward again.


	11. Chapter 10

Hermione entered the kitchen to find Draco standing in front of the sink, staring out of the window. She could see her fiancé was in a world of his own, and it didn't take a genius to work out where his mind was. The investigation into Cho's death had taken a distinctly personal tone for Draco as his aunt became more and more a part of the investigation. Everyone now believed Cho's visit to see Bellatrix was vital to the case, and Hermione knew it was bothering Draco that something his aunt had said could have gotten Cho killed.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently, running her hand down Draco's back.

"Just thinking," Draco replied as he turned around and smiled at Hermione. "How are you? Has the queasiness passed?"

For the first time since discovering she was pregnant, Hermione had woken up feeling nauseous, but the feeling had now passed and she felt just fine. After reassuring Draco was she was fine, Hermione once again asked about her fiancé's state of mind.

"You can read me so well," Draco said with a sigh as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"For someone who spent years hiding their emotions, you're pretty easy to read these days," Hermione said as she sat down opposite Draco.

"Only with people I care about," Draco retorted.

"So come on, spill it," Hermione urged. "What's bothering you? Is it the case?"

"It's just taken such a personal turn," Draco said. "I can't help thinking about two years ago. That case shattered so many lives, and it still haunts people to this day. Daphne barely has a relationship with her parents any more, and she's eaten up with guilt over what happened to Astoria. Most of the time Theo is fine, but then something reminds him of Pansy and he spends days mourning the love of his life. Then there's everyone else who lost someone, and everyone who still feels guilty for not seeing what happened with Millicent coming. This case is just heading down the same road."

"You can't blame yourself for what Millicent did, Draco," Hermione said soothingly. "No-one can. No-one could have known she was so ill."

"Maybe we would have if we'd paid closer attention to her," Draco replied sadly. "Maybe she was right, maybe we did neglect her."

"I refuse to believe that," Hermione said with a stubborn shake of her head. "I saw how broken up you and your friends were when you realised what she'd become. You were her friends, she just didn't want to accept it because it was easier for her to portray herself as a victim. Although unless you're seriously suspecting Neville is our killer, I can't say I see the similarities to that case."

"I don't think Longbottom is the killer," Draco admitted. "Then again, if you'd told me two years ago that the sadistic serial killer we were looking for was Millicent, I would have laughed out loud. I suppose the difference is, you're still in contact with Longbottom so you would likely notice if he lost it enough to kill someone."

"Which he hasn't," Hermione replied. "Neville is the sweetest man I've ever met. He would never kill anyone. But there has to be more to your worries about the connections to Millicent's case. What are you still so worried about as you don't think Neville is the killer?"

"I'm just thinking about how many people are going to be feeling partly responsible for Cho's death when this is over," Draco answered. "Professor Sprout is already feeling guilty because it was her potion that killed Cho."

"But she didn't poison her with it," Hermione argued.

"Maybe not, but the guilt is still be there. Someone was killed by something she invented, therefore she will feel bad. If it turns out the batch was actually from what Longbottom made up, he'll then feel guilty. If her death has got something to do with Bella as we suspect, the former Minister that told Cho the story about my aunt will also feel culpable. And if something Bella told Cho directly led to her death, my mother is going to feel bad because her sister put Cho in harm's way. Whoever killed Cho has done so in such a way that they've affected so many lives. So many people will be implicated and spend the rest of their lives wondering what would have happened if they'd done things differently."

Hermione was quiet as she digested what Draco was saying. She knew he was right, and she knew enough about guilt to know it wasn't always logical. Even though one person had killed Cho, potentially there would be several more people left thinking about the unwitting role they'd played in her death. Cho's killer hadn't just killed her, but they'd tainted the lives of so many other people.

"I've never really thought about it like that," Hermione admitted to her fiancé. "But the sad thing is, there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is catch the killer and see that justice if done for Cho and her family."

"Speaking of catching the killer, will the analysis on the potion you got from Professor Sprout be ready before Harry and I go and speak to Longbottom?"

"It should be," Hermione replied with a nod. "Although if the killer used Professor Sprout's batch of Bugs-Bee-Gone, you might not need to talk to Neville."

"Even if we get positive confirmation on the potion we still need to talk to him since he knew the formula. It's a long shot, but he might have stolen some Bugs-Bee-Gone from Sprout to divert suspicion from himself."

"Neville wouldn't do that."

"Let's hope not," Draco said sombrely as he got to his feet so he and Hermione could head to work. "It's not a pleasant feeling knowing one of your old friends is a killer."

Sensing that Draco was feeling particularly vulnerable, Hermione gave her fiancé a comforting hug and a lingering kiss, before the couple headed off to work. While Draco headed to the Auror department, Hermione headed to her lab to get the results of the potion they'd been testing. With the results in hand she then travelled to the Auror department where she found her three colleagues in the conference room, discussing how the case was progressing.

"Tell me it's a match, Hermione," Harry all but begged when Hermione entered the room. Like Draco he knew a visit to Neville was on the cards regardless of the results, but if they didn't need to test his potion, the visit would be a lot easier.

"Sorry," Hermione replied with a small shake of her head. "Professor Sprout did not personally make the Bugs-Bee-Gone that was used to kill Cho."

"Bugger," Harry swore. "That means the potion came from Neville's supply."

"Or maybe he gave the recipe to someone else," Draco suggested.

"Not Neville," Ron said, shaking his head. "The potion recipe wasn't his to share, so he won't have shared it with anyone. He's a good, honest man."

"He is," Harry agreed. "But now we need to talk to him more than ever. Are you ready, Draco?"

Grabbing his jacket, Draco gave Hermione a quick kiss goodbye as he left the department with his partner. Harry was silent as they made their way down to the atrium, and he didn't speak until he gave Draco the name of the village in which Neville lived. Together the pair then apparated to the small village nestled in the heart of the Cotswold's that was home to Neville Longbottom.

"Nice village," Draco remarked as Harry led the way to Neville's house.

"It is a nice place, too quiet for me, but nice," Harry replied. "And Neville's house is the one of the end. The one with the big garden."

"Impressive," Draco said, taking in the garden of the house they were heading to. He knew his mother would be impressed with the variety of flowers and how neat and tidy everything was. Neville clearly spent a lot of time in his garden, and his hard work showed in the beautiful space he'd made.

Knocking on the front door, the pair got no answer, so Harry led the way around the side of the house and into the back garden, which was just as colourful and spectacular at the front garden. Draco could also see that Neville grew his own vegetables, and there was a small greenhouse at the bottom of the garden.

"Mrs Longbottom," Harry called, diverting Draco's attention to where a grey hair old woman sat on a bench, pruning a rose bench.

"Harry," Augusta Longbottom greeted with a terse nod. "What brings you out here?"

"We're looking for Neville," Harry answered.

"He's in Ireland with his wife," Augusta replied as she rose to her feet. "She's gone to interview a leprechaun, or some such twaddle. Don't get me wrong, I like Luna and she makes my Neville happy, but she does have some odd ideas."

"That she does," Harry agreed with a fond smile. He was quite friendly with Luna Lovegood, Neville's wife, and he thought the pair made a perfect couple.

"Can I help you, or does it have to be Neville you talk to?" Augusta asked.

"Actually you could help us," Harry replied. "We'd like a sample of Neville's home-made Bugs-Bee-Gone, and if you don't mind we'd like to ask you some questions."

"Why do you need a sample of Neville's Bugs-Bee-Gone?" Augusta asked suspiciously.

Harry quickly explained the situation and Augusta was horrified by what she heard. Promising to do everything she could to help, she settled the pair at the patio table and headed down to the greenhouse to collect a sample of the Bugs-Bee-Gone. Returning with the sample, she handed it over to Draco before heading into the house to grab a pitcher of home-made pumpkin juice and chocolate chip cookies.

"I can't believe someone murdered that girl," Augusta said with a sad shake of her head as she settled herself opposite the two Aurors. "And to do it with a Herbology potion. Do you think someone was trying to deflect the blame onto my grandson?"

"Can you think of anyone who would want to do that?" Draco asked, surprised by Augusta's question as it was something they'd never considered.

"No, everyone loves my Neville, he's such a sweet boy," Augusta replied. "Not that I should really call him a boy any more, he has just turned thirty."

"Yeah, we're getting old now," Harry joked. "But we don't think someone is trying to frame Neville. Maybe the potion was the only one they could get their hands on. But we'll find out what happened."

"So how can I help you?" Augusta asked with a frown. "I don't think I've even met the poor girl that was killed."

"Firstly, do you know if Neville makes Bugs-Bee-Gone for anyone but himself?" Draco asked.

"He supplies Hogwarts and a lot of their Professors," Augusta replied. "But not a lot of his young friends are very green fingered. I do think he gives Luna some to pass onto her father. But other than that, I can't think of anyone else he would give it to."

"And he's never given the recipe to anyone?" Harry checked.

"That isn't his to give, Harry," Augusta replied with a cluck of her tongue. "You know Neville would never give away something that was given to him in good faith. Pomona Sprout trusted my Neville with her formula, and Neville would never betray that trust."

"I'm sure he wouldn't Mrs Longbottom," Draco said soothingly. "But we have to ask these questions."

"I understand," Augusta replied with a sharp nod. "Now what is the second thing I can help you with? I assume there is more you want to know."

"We're wanting to know about rumours you may have heard thirty years ago, when you were part of the Order of the Phoenix," Harry said.

"I was never part of the Order," Augusta corrected. "My Frank and his Alice were, but I tried to keep out of things."

"Can I ask why?" Draco asked, seeing how surprised Harry was at the revelation. "Did you not believe in their fight?"

"I believed in it, I just didn't believe in their leader."

"You had a problem with Dumbledore?" Harry questioned in disbelief.

"In my opinion he was every bit as power hungry as Voldemort, he was just a damn sight better at hiding his desire for power," Augusta replied. "I thought he was a dangerous man to get too involved with. I begged my Frank to distance himself from Dumbledore, but he was determined to fight. I'm only glad that Dumbledore didn't decide that my poor Neville was the boy from the prophecy."

"Dumbledore didn't decide that, Voldemort did," Harry said. "Dumbledore told me himself that he didn't know who the prophecy was about – me or Neville."

"He decided it was you," Augusta said, giving Harry a sympathetic smile. "For a while he tried to say he was unsure, but after deciding that your parents were the softer targets he started leaning towards you being the boy in the prophecy. And it was because of that choice that Voldemort went after you, and not my Neville."

"What do you mean, my parents were softer targets?" Harry questioned. "Are you accusing him of setting them up to be killed?"

"Merlin, no," Augusta gasped. "I don't think even Dumbledore would have gone that far. I just meant that he realised that he wouldn't be able to control Neville in the same way he could you. Not to be mean to your parents, but they were both very much in awe of Dumbledore and would have done whatever he wanted. All he had to do was say jump and they would have asked how high. My Frank and his Alice weren't quite as accommodating, and I think Dumbledore realised that he wouldn't be able to control them the way he could your parents. Of course it didn't really matter when it came down to it because your poor parents were killed and he still got to control you in his own way."

"Dumbledore did not control me," Harry said through clenched teeth, struggling to keep his temper in the face of such nasty allegations against the wizard he'd always looked up to.

"Perhaps we should get back on track," Draco suggested, not wanting Augusta to call a halt to the meeting if Harry lost his temper. "We actually wanted to ask you about my aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange."

"You want me to talk about the witch that took my Frank from me?" Augusta spat, her hatred for Bellatrix clear for both Aurors to see. "She's pure evil and I wish someone had killed her during the war."

"We know this must be tough for you, but please Mrs Longbottom, we need your help," Harry pleaded. "Did you ever hear rumours of Bellatrix being pregnant?"

"Pregnant?" Augusta laughed bitterly. "I think you've got the wrong witch. She didn't have a maternal bone in her body. Even back before she targeted my son, she was trouble. She was one of the few Death Eaters who didn't wear a mask, and she genuinely seemed to like causing mayhem and killing people. She liked nothing better than to be in the middle of a ferocious fight."

"But you never heard any pregnancy stories?" Draco checked. "Or any stories of the Order taking her baby?"

"Not a one," Augusta replied. "Although if you really want to know what went on with the Order and what they talked about you should talk to Molly Weasley. She seemed to spend most of her time pregnant, so she couldn't fight. I also know she was a regular around the Order and she used to fuss around them, making them tea and keeping them fed. My guess is she heard plenty, probably far more than anyone realised. All I ever heard were bits and pieces from my Frank and his Alice, but they weren't really the gossiping sort. I'm sorry that I can't help you more."

"You've helped us a great deal, Mrs Longbottom," Harry said as he and Draco stood up and thanked the old witch for her help. "When Neville gets back, will you ask him to get in touch just so we can clarify a few things."

Thanking Augusta yet again, Harry and Draco headed back to the Ministry where they gave Hermione the sample of the Bugs-Bee-Gone and sat down to discuss their next move. They still had to find Cho's killer, but yet again they'd hit a stumbling block and it was time to once again go over what they knew. Somewhere along the line the killer must have slipped up, and they were determined to find where and pounce on it. They weren't going to give up until the killer of Cho Chang was caught and languishing behind bars in Azkaban.


	12. Chapter 11

Augusta Longbottom's words haunted Harry long after he and Draco had returned to the Ministry. Knowing he wouldn't be able to fully concentrate on the case in hand and finding Cho's killer until he dealt with the emotions Augusta had brought up by mentioning his dead parents and Dumbledore, Harry spoke to Ron and arranged for them to visit Molly and Arthur that evening. They had been meaning to speak to Ron's parents about the Order and anything they might have heard thirty years ago, but they'd just been too busy. However, this way they could kill two birds with one stone, and not only could they find out anything the Weasleys knew about Bellatrix, but Harry could get some answers to the questions Neville's gran had raised.

On his lunch break, Harry alerted Ginny to his plans and she'd made the arrangements for them all to go for dinner at The Burrow. She'd also made sure that no-one else was present, so Harry and Ron would be able to talk to Molly and Arthur in peace. Feeling much better having arranged to speak to the couple he thought of as parents, Harry was able to focus on some work as he and Draco debated the option that someone was trying to set Neville up by using his home brewed Bugs-Bee-Gone. However, it was proving hard to find a link between Neville and Cho, let alone finding anyone who hated them both enough to kill one of them and frame the other.

By the end of the day they were still no further forward with their framing theory, and Harry left the Ministry hoping that either Molly and Arthur could tell them something that could help, or they would find out something when the results of the analysis on the Bugs-Bee-Gone taken from Neville's supply were back tomorrow morning. All Harry knew was that they needed something to happen, and it needed to happen soon, as he felt as though they were merely turning around in circles and getting nowhere in their attempt to find out who had killed Cho and why.

When he arrived home, Harry was able to forget about his troubles at work as he caught up with what the boys had been up to while he was at work. By the time they headed for The Burrow, Harry was in a fairly good mood, despite the topics he knew he wanted to raise with Molly and Arthur. However, serious matters were put on the back burner for a few hours as the family enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal and spent some time together as a family.

"Teddy, will you take James and Albus to play upstairs," Harry asked his godson a short while after dinner.

"But I want to stay here," James pouted.

"Come on James, it'll be fun," Teddy urged, grinning at the younger boy. "We can explore the boxes in Uncle George's old room."

"Just don't blow the house up," Ginny ordered her boys as James swiftly changed his mind and decided playing upstairs was what he wanted to do after all.

"We'll try not to," Teddy laughed as he took hold of Albus's hand and led him from the room along with James.

"He's such a lovely young boy," Molly remarked with a wistful smile as she watched the three boys trot up the stairs. "Nymphadora and Remus would be so proud."

"They would," Harry agreed with a nod. "I'm certainly proud of him."

"As you should be," Arthur said. "You and Ginny have done a great job raising him, especially as you were only children yourself when you took him in."

"It was the right thing to do," Harry replied. "And it was what Remus wanted. He said it was what Sirius had wanted to do with me, but he never had the chance."

"Sirius always was hot headed," Arthur said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "He rushed straight after Pettigrew and in the process lost the chance of raising you."

"But I was already with the Dursleys by the time Sirius was arrested," Harry pointed out.

It wasn't until he'd been thinking about Augusta's words earlier that afternoon that he'd realised that Sirius hadn't been arrested before he was sent to live with the Dursleys, he'd already been in the muggle world when Sirius went after Pettigrew. Since Sirius had entered his life in third year, Harry had always assumed he'd been robbed of a life with his godfather because of what had happened with Pettigrew. As stupid as it sounded, he'd only just realised that things hadn't played out that way at all. Sirius hadn't been given the chance to raise him as Dumbledore had already taken him and hidden him with his muggle relatives.

"What's this about Harry?" Arthur asked his son-in-law. "You seem pre-occupied with something."

"I was speaking with Neville's gran today, and she said a few things that got me thinking," Harry replied.

"I would take what Augusta Longbottom has to say with a large pinch of salt," Molly snorted. "She's the most opinionated woman I've ever met, and she twists everything to fit with how she views the world."

"What did she say?" Ginny asked gently, reaching for her husband's hand, being careful not to wake Lily who was asleep in between them.

"She said that Dumbledore had decided that I was the boy in the prophecy," Harry replied. "She said that was why Voldemort chose to come after my parents."

"What utter nonsense," Molly snapped. "It sounds to me like Augusta is just jealous because her grandson was overlooked."

"So it's not true?" Harry pressed. "Dumbledore wasn't leaning towards me being the boy in the prophecy?"

"No, there was no way of distinguishing between you and Neville," Molly answered firmly. "He spent weeks going over the prophecy, but he couldn't find a way in which it favoured one boy over the other."

"So why did Augusta say that Dumbledore favoured me?" Harry questioned.

"Maybe in her eyes he did," Molly answered thoughtfully. "I suppose to the casual observer, it might look as though he was trying to protect you and your parents more than the Longbottoms."

"Was he?" Harry asked.

"No, your parents were just more co-operative," Molly answered. "Albus suggested both couples should go into hiding, and while your parents readily agreed, the Longbottoms quibbled about it. Frank especially was unhappy about the idea and he swore he would protect his family. Albus helped your parents go into hiding, while Frank moved his family himself, although they didn't hide and he continued to work. Alice would have done the same, but she'd just had Neville and was on maternity leave. Maybe Augusta didn't know the whole story and thought that Albus was favouring your parents, when instead it was her son that was proving difficult and wouldn't accept Albus's help."

"Augusta said Dumbledore was favouring me for the prophecy because my parents were easier to manipulate," Harry said. "From what you're saying, it's sounds like she was right."

"Nonsense, James and Lily weren't manipulated by anyone, let alone Albus," Molly tutted.

"And what do you think, Arthur?" Harry asked, aware that the older wizard had been quiet and several times it looked as though he disagreed with what his wife was saying. "Did Dumbledore manipulate my parents?"

"I don't think he did so in the way Augusta is suggesting, but there was no doubt he heavily influenced some major decisions they took," Arthur said.

"Like what?" Harry asked. The more he was learning, the more he was thinking that he'd misjudged the old headmaster and he wasn't sure he was liking what he was learning, especially since he'd given his second son the name Albus to honour the wizard he'd always looked up to.

"The use of Pettigrew as your parent's secret keeper," Arthur answered. "They were going to use Sirius, but it was Dumbledore that changed their mind."

"But that was to stop it from being obvious to the dark who knew where the Potters were," Ron argued. "Sirius was the first person they would have gone after to find Harry and his parents."

"True," Arthur agreed with a nod. "But Sirius would have died rather than give up his best friends."

"Are you saying my parents are dead because of Dumbledore?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"No, and I don't for one minute think he knew what would happen," Arthur said. "As Ron said, his reason for suggesting Pettigrew was sound. He had no idea the man was a traitorous worm. But I do know that your parents were never comfortable with the idea of not using Sirius. And I know Sirius blamed himself for allowing Dumbledore to talk them around. Who knows, if they hadn't listened to Dumbledore, things might have been different. But you can't live your life with what ifs, Harry. What is done is done, and I don't for one minute think Dumbledore decided you were the boy from the prophecy because he could manipulate your parents. Until Voldemort struck, he had no idea which of you the prophecy was about. Voldemort made that choice, not Dumbledore."

Harry silently digested everything Arthur had said, before slowly nodding his head. It was clear that Augusta did have a point about the power Dumbledore had held over his parents, but she'd been wrong about trying to manipulate them. He'd just been trying to do the right thing, it had just been unfortunate that some of his choices had backfired. And since Dumbledore was dead, Harry wasn't going to learn anything more from the old headmaster about his motives all those years go, so all he could really do was make peace with what had happened and get back to his normal life.

"What exactly has brought all this on?" Molly questioned. "Why were you speaking with Augusta Longbottom?"

"It was in connection with our case," Harry answered.

"Cho's murder?" Ginny questioned with a frown.

"Why would you talk to Augusta about the murder of Cho Chang?" Arthur asked. "Did she even know the girl?"

"You know we can't discuss details of the case," Ron said to his parents. "But something has arisen which we wanted your take on. You have to promise not to say anything about what we're going to reveal to anyone. This has to remain confidential."

"You know I never gossip, Ron," Molly said solemnly, seemingly forgetting that she loved nothing more than gossiping with her daughters-in-law.

"I mean it Mum, this is private," Ron warned.

"We won't tell a soul," Arthur swore. He knew that his wife liked a good gossip, but he also knew that Molly knew exactly when to keep her mouth shut.

"We believe that Cho was killed as a result of a visit to Azkaban to see Bellatrix Lestrange," Harry admitted.

"You think Bellatrix was involved in the murder?" Molly gasped.

"Not exactly," Harry answered. "We think it's more likely an old secret is at the heart of the case."

"What old secret?" Arthur asked.

"Thirty years ago, Bellatrix had a baby," Ron said. "The baby was stillborn, but in her grief she convinced herself that Dumbledore stole her child. She's since decided who that child is, and we think that's what she told Cho."

At Ron's revelations, Molly and Arthur were both stunned into silence. Of all the things they might have been expecting to hear, Bellatrix having a child thirty years ago wasn't one of them. Nor were they expecting to hear that her secret had potentially caused the death of a pretty young witch who had so much to live for.

"You think whoever Bellatrix has latched onto as her child killed Cho?" Arthur asked eventually.

"It's a possibility," Harry admitted. "Or it could be one of their family, trying to protect their family's reputation. The truth is we just don't know, so we were hoping that you might have heard anything thirty years ago that might help us."

"This is the first I've heard of Bellatrix having a child," Molly uttered, obviously still stunned with the news. "Are you sure it's true?"

"It's true," Harry replied with a nod. "So there were no rumours back then? No long absences from battles or anything like that?"

"We would never have noticed if she was missing from battles, not with the masks and robes the Death Eaters all wore," Arthur replied.

"Augusta said she didn't usually wear a mask," Harry said. "And she certainly didn't during the second war. From what I witnessed of her, she liked to be seen. She liked to be known as a Death Eater."

"You're right, she did," Arthur said with a thoughtful nod. "So maybe she was missing for a time. The truth is, I just don't remember. We could go for weeks without crossing paths with the Death Eaters. It wouldn't he hard to hide a pregnancy from the Order. It would have been harder to hide one from the dark, maybe you should be talking to former Death Eaters."

"We've spoke to a couple," Harry said. "Even her husband and sister didn't know she was pregnant. It was kept so quiet she even visited a clinic in France for her check-ups."

"Why the secrecy?" Ginny asked.

"Because of the father," Ron answered. "We're fairly sure it was Voldemort's child."

"I guess that explains why she was able to convince herself that Dumbledore snatched her child," Arthur said. "I'm sure she was judging everyone by her lover's standards and thought that Dumbledore was capable of snatching a child."

"Albus would never do that," Molly protested. "He was a good man."

"No-one is suggesting he did anything of the sort, Molly," Harry said soothingly. "We know Bellatrix's child died, he wasn't kidnapped. We're just trying to decide who she thinks her child is."

"Can't you ask her?" Arthur questioned.

"We can and we have," Harry replied. "She won't tell us anything. To be honest after our last visit, I'd be surprised if she'll even utter one more word to us."

"Do you have any idea who she could be fixated on?" Ron asked his parents. "Does the fact she went after the Longbottoms mean anything?"

"I suppose it could so," Arthur conceded. "But at the time we all took it to be a message. Voldemort had just vanished and the dark were running scared. We all took it as Bellatrix sending a message by targeting the most famous family in the Order."

"The Longbottoms were famous?" Ginny frowned.

"Everyone knew Dumbledore was our leader, but the Longbottoms were well known in our world," Arthur explained. "They were both Aurors, and Frank was well on his way to becoming a living legend. Harry's parents were made famous because they were killed by Voldemort, before that the wider population wouldn't have heard of them. It's the same for us, our name wasn't well known. Frank and Alice were the biggest names in our group, and that's why we also thought she went after them."

"She claims they knew where her son was," Harry said. "Could she have meant Neville?"

"It's possible, but then again she might have thought you were her son and Voldemort killed your parents to get you," Arthur said. "I'm not sure any sane person can possibly try and predict what Bellatrix was thinking, either back then or now."

"I've always said she was a crazy old cow," Ron remarked. "I agree with Dad. We've got no way of knowing what she was thinking or why she did anything. I think we need to focus on the hard evidence to find our killer."

"Now all we need is some actual evidence," Harry snorted.

Knowing there was nothing else the Weasleys could say to help them, Harry thanked Molly and Arthur for their time. Calling for the boys, he then headed home with his family and once everyone was in bed, he settled down with Ginny and the pair talked long into the night about what Augusta had said to him and how it had affected him and his memories of Dumbledore. By the time he went to sleep, Harry vowed to forget about Augusta Longbottom's words and just remember Dumbledore the way he'd always done so, as the wizard who had helped him become the man he now was.


	13. Chapter 12

"That cannot be right," Hermione muttered to herself as she checked the results of the Bugs-Bee-Gone taken from Neville's supply.

Hermione had arrived at work early to get the results so that Draco and Harry would know for sure where to go next with the investigation. However, the results were in and they were not what she'd been expecting. Heading into the lab area, she found the technician that had carried out the test and asked him to double check his findings.

"These things are very accurate, Miss Granger," the technician said.

"I know, but these results can't possibly be right," Hermione replied. "Are we sure there hasn't been any cross contamination?"

"In your lab?" the technician queried with an arched eyebrow. "You know how much we all value the hard earned reputation of this department. We're all so very careful."

"I know," Hermione said, giving the technician a small smile as she knew he was right and that the people who worked in her department were as conscientious as they could possibly be.

Half an hour later the confirmed results were in and Hermione found herself facing a major anomaly. Thanking the technician for his work, and reassuring him that he'd done nothing wrong, Hermione headed off to the Auror department with the results. When she arrived in the conference room she found Harry, Draco and Ron theorising on who could possibly hate both Cho and Neville and where their lives could have intersected.

"You don't look happy," Harry remarked when he spotted his best friend. "Don't tell us, the results are in and the Bugs-Bee-Gone used to kill Cho was made by Neville."

"I have no idea," Hermione replied. "The sample of Bugs-Bee-Gone I've just tested comes back as a perfect match for the manufactured potion."

"That's impossible," Draco muttered with a frown. "A potion made by Longbottom couldn't possibly be the same as one made by a large potions firm."

"It can't, so clearly I haven't been testing Neville's potion," Hermione replied, handing Harry the results for her best friend to look over.

"How did that happen?" Ron asked. "Did one of you take the sample from the wrong place?"

"Actually, neither of us took the sample," Draco admitted with a wince. "We trusted Mrs Longbottom to give us the sample."

"Neville's gran either lied to you, or Neville is passing the shop bought version of the potion off as his own," Hermione replied.

"Why would Neville do that?" Ron questioned. "I know Potions wasn't his strong suit at school, so do you think he couldn't make the potion so just lied and said that he was?"

"He wasn't a great potions maker, but he should be able to make a potion when he hasn't got Severus breathing down his neck," Draco pointed out. "Because let's be honest, that was his real problem with Potions. He was too scared of Severus to actually master the art of potion making."

"He's got a point," Harry said to Ron. "Neville was terrified of Snape. Just because he couldn't brew a decent potion in school, doesn't mean he can't whip one up now."

"I think we need to actually speak to Neville this time," Draco said. "He's the only one who can answer our questions."

"If we don't get any joy from Neville's gran, we could always speak to Luna's father. Xeno might be able to tell us where to find them in Ireland," Harry suggested.

"If you can get a sample of potion Neville's actually made I would appreciate it," Hermione said. "And if it turns out he can't make the potion, it means someone else can. We need to find whoever made the potion that killed Cho if we want to find her killer."

"We'll find the potion," Draco promised his fiancée. "I'll bring it to you when we find it."

"I'll be waiting," Hermione replied, before she turned and headed back to her lab. She still had other work to do and she was eager to start clearing her cases so she could finally think about taking up her promotion as head of the Law Department.

After Hermione left, Harry and Draco grabbed their jackets and leaving Ron to continue their theorising, they left the Ministry and headed back to the village where Neville lived. At Neville's house they got no answer and when they wandered around to the back of the house there was no sign of life in the house. Nor was there any sign of Augusta Longbottom.

"Does Longbottom's gran live with him?" Draco asked as Harry peered through a window which looked into a large kitchen.

"No, she lives in the next village over," Harry answered. "But Neville is always saying how his gran treats his house like her own. To be honest, I think it's just stubbornness on her part that stops her from moving in with Neville and Luna full time."

"Well, I don't think there's anyone here today," Draco said. "Should we try Mrs Longbottom at home?"

"Yeah, but first let's go and have a look at Neville's greenhouse," Harry replied.

"We can't take anything," Draco warned. "Not if we want it to stand up in court."

"I'm not suggesting we take anything, I just want to have a look," Harry said as he led the way down to Neville's greenhouse.

Unsurprisingly the greenhouse was protected by magical wards, meaning they couldn't get inside. Thankfully it was made of glass, so the two Aurors were able to peer into the greenhouse. Standing on a shelf at the back of the greenhouse stood a large bottle with a turquoise potion inside. From their previous samples, both Harry and Draco suspected the potion was Bugs-Bee-Gone. But was it home-made Bugs-Bee-Gone or shop bought decanted into a container to look home-made?

"We need a sample of what's in that bottle," Harry said.

"Yes, we do," Draco agreed with a nod, while he scanned the back garden of the Longbottom property. Spotting an old fashioned metal bin, partially hidden behind a hydrangea bush, he wandered over and pulling some gloves from his pocket he lifted the lid.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Nosing," Draco answered, very carefully poking through the garden waste in the bin. "Bingo," he cried, finding a plastic bottle with a Bugs-Bee-Gone label on the front.

"Interesting," Harry remarked as Draco pulled the bottle from the bin.

"Very," Draco agreed. "Have you got an evidence bag? Since it's in the rubbish, we don't need a warrant or anything."

"You're sneaky, Draco," Harry said with a chuckle as he produced an evidence bag to put the bottle in.

"Just a former Slytherin," Draco answered with a shrug. "Now let's go and pay Granny Longbottom a visit."

Heading to the next village over, Harry and Draco tried to contact Augusta Longbottom, but failed to get an answer at the old woman's cottage. A neighbour kindly told them she'd seen Augusta leaving early that morning, but she had no idea where Augusta was going or when she would be back.

"So I guess we're off to see Mr Lovegood," Draco remarked. "What's he like?"

"Put it this way, after meeting him, you'll see where Luna gets it from," Harry chuckled. "But he's a good man. I like him."

Since Draco didn't know where they were going, he allowed Harry to apparate them both to their next location. Xeno Lovegood lived in an old windmill, and the two Aurors found him pottering around outside in the garden, wearing a lime green hat. Unlike Neville's garden which was filled with recognisable flowers, Draco didn't recognise half of the multi-coloured flowers in the Lovegoods garden.

"Harry," Xeno greeted with a smile as he put down his trowel. "What can I do for you?"

"We're looking for Neville," Harry answered. "His gran said he was with Luna in Ireland."

"Yes, she was doing a very important interview," Xeno replied. "But they come back today. At least I think it's today, I do tend to lose track of time."

"Do you have an address where they're staying?" Draco questioned.

"No, but as I said, I'm sure they're due back today," Xeno replied. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more help."

"No, you've been a great help Mr Lovegood," Harry said. "Sorry for bothering you."

"It's no bother, call again any time you want," Xeno said as he got back to his gardening.

"What now?" Draco asked. "Go back to Longbottom's and wait?"

"No let's go back to the Ministry and try Neville again this afternoon," Harry answered. "We can give the bottle to Hermione and see if she can tell if the sample Neville's gran gave us came from there."

Returning to the Ministry, Harry headed off to fill Ron in on developments, while Draco took the bottle down to Hermione's lab.

"All I'll be able to tell you is what was inside," Hermione said to her fiancé. "I won't be able to tell you if it's where the sample Augusta gave you came from. As we've already discovered, all the manufactured Bugs-Bee-Gone is the same."

"So we've got nothing," Draco said with a sigh.

"No, you've got evidence that shop bought Bugs-Bee-Gone was at Neville's house," Hermione corrected. "Mind you, proving who bought it could be hard."

"This whole case is bloody hard, so why should this be any different," Draco muttered.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, wrapping her arms around Draco.

"Just tired," Draco replied as he buried his head in Hermione's hair and breathed in her familiar, fresh scent. "I hate this damn case. I have an awful feeling that when all is said and done Cho's death is going to be a result of my crazy aunt and her mad ramblings."

"You can't blame yourself, Draco," Hermione said softly. "Bellatrix might be your family, but you're not responsible for her actions, or anything she might have told Cho. And even if what she told Cho is part of why she was killed, she didn't kill her. Someone else killed Cho, and her death is on their conscience, not yours."

"I just wish we could catch a break," Draco sighed. "Maybe Longbottom can tell us something when we catch up with him."

"Let's hope so," Hermione agreed. "And let's hope whatever is going on, he's not involved."

Hoping that Hermione was right, Draco said his goodbyes and headed back to see if Harry had anything new to report. With nothing else rearing its head, Draco and Harry left the Ministry again just after lunch and headed back to Neville's house. It was still empty when they arrived, but rather than leave they settled themselves on the front wall to wait for their only lead to turn up.

It was nearly two hours later before Harry felt someone watching him and when he turned around he spotted Luna's puzzled face peering out of the front window. Getting to their feet the two Aurors made their way to the front door, but before they could knock it was opened by an equally bemused Neville Longbottom.

"Harry, Malfoy," Neville greeted with a slight incline of his head. "Is there a problem? Luna said you were just sitting on our front wall."

"We've been waiting for you to return," Harry answered seriously. "We got some questions we want to ask you. Can we come in?"

"Of course," Neville replied, opening the front door so the two Aurors could enter the house.

Refusing drinks, Harry and Draco sat down in the front room with Neville and Luna and quickly filled them in on why they wanted to talk to them. Both of them seemed genuinely shocked by news of Cho's death. Luna explained that they'd left for Ireland the day the Aurors had found her body, which was why they'd never heard about her death.

"What was wrong with the sample Gran gave you?" Neville asked with a frown, when Harry explained about the Bugs-Bee-Gone and how they were trying to track down the exact potion used to poison Cho.

"It was shop bought," Draco explained. "You do make your own, don't you?"

"I do," Neville replied with a nod. "I brought several bottles back down from Hogwarts at the beginning of the summer. I do know Gran had ran out just before then and had to buy a small bottle to see her through until I came home."

"So your gran would know the difference between the two?" Harry checked. "She won't have gotten confused?"

"No, Gran isn't the type to get confused," Neville answered. "There has to be an explanation."

"Maybe she knew your potion would prove a match to the one that killed Cho," Draco suggested.

"Are you suggesting I killed Cho?" Neville spat, his anger flaring in the face of the blond wizard's suggestion.

"I'm not suggesting anything," Draco said with a slight shrug. "I'm just trying to find an explanation as to why your Gran gave us the wrong sample."

"Are you sure she couldn't have been confused?" Harry pressed. "She is getting on a bit."

"My grandmother is not senile," Neville said firmly.

"We're going to need a sample of your potion," Harry said to his friend.

"Come on and I'll get you one," Neville said as he got to his feet and led the two Aurors through the house and towards the back garden.

"Had you seen Cho leading up to her death?" Harry asked as they emerged into the sun filled garden.

"No, should I have?"

"So she never appeared asking about my aunt?" Draco asked.

"Your aunt," Neville frowned, stopping and turning to face Draco. "You're not talking Andromeda are you?"

"No," Draco replied. "Cho had been in contact with Bellatrix, who told her about her son."

"Son?" Neville repeated.

"He's dead," Harry explained. "But Bellatrix thinks he's still alive. She's picked someone she thinks is her son and convinced herself that he didn't die and was merely stolen from her."

"Me?" Neville whispered. "Does she think I'm her son?"

"We don't know," Draco admitted. "She won't tell us anything."

"Would it help if I went to see her?" Neville asked, even though he shivered at the thought of visiting Azkaban.

"You would do that?" Harry asked, amazed by his friend's offer.

"If it helps you catch a killer, then yes I would," Neville replied.

"How about tomorrow?" Draco asked. "By then Hermione will have tested the potion to see if it's a match."

"Just tell me the time and I'll be at the Ministry," Neville replied.

Thanking Neville for his help, Draco and Harry grabbed the sample they needed and arranging for him to arrive at the Ministry tomorrow lunchtime, they headed back to work to give Hermione the second sample. Maybe now they would get some answers, and if Bellatrix wouldn't talk to them, maybe she would talk to Neville, especially if she was deluded enough to think he was her son.


	14. Chapter 13

With the second batch of Neville's Bugs-Bee-Gone, hopefully the correct one this time, in her possession, Hermione decided to run the tests herself. It wasn't that she didn't trust her team, because she did, she just felt as though she'd done very little to aid the case and she was eager to help. Besides, she wanted the test results to be available before Neville arrived at the Ministry the following day to accompany Draco and Harry to Azkaban.

With the testing of the Bugs-Bee-Gone taking priority, Hermione spent all afternoon in the forensics lab. By the time it came to her usual time to leave, the first batch of results hadn't yet been collated, so she'd stayed behind to wait for the first analysis of the potion. The first results wouldn't tell her much, but it would confirm she was dealing with Bugs-Bee-Gone, and once she knew that she could carry on the testing so that by morning she would have a complete analysis of the potion Neville had given to the Aurors.

A complete analysis of any potion took time, and it was going on for nine o'clock before the alarm on the potion sounded to alert Hermione that the initial results were in. Hermione checked the results immediately, and unsurprisingly they confirmed that she was analysing the potion known as Bugs-Bee-Gone. Now she would never further analysis, to de-construct the exact potion she was testing to see if it was a match to the one found in Cho's system. Ensuring that the necessary tests were already running, and the results would be available by mid-morning, Hermione decided to call it a night and she wearily headed home.

Stepping out of the floo network at home, Hermione nearly collided with her fiancé, who had his jacket on and was holding a handful of floo powder. After a long day, Hermione was pretty tired and if it hadn't been for Draco's quick reflexes, she would have walked straight into him and likely ended up being knocked off her feet. As it was, Draco scattered the floo powder everywhere as he dodged from the collision, and the carpet ended up covered in green powder.

"Are you going somewhere?" Hermione asked. "Has something happened with the case?"

"Nothings happened with the case," Draco replied. "I was going to the Ministry to bring you home. Do you have any idea how late it is? When I left work, you said you would be an hour or so behind me. That was over three hours ago."

"And you restrained yourself for this long?" Hermione questioned with a teasing smile.

"I've been pacing the floor for the last half hour," Draco admitted.

"You don't have to worry about me Draco," Hermione said, pecking her fiancé on the cheek. "I'm a very capable witch, I can take care of myself."

"Of that I have no doubt," Draco said. "But I was worried that you were overdoing it in your condition."

"I'm pregnant not ill," Hermione argued.

"You will be ill if you keep pushing yourself so hard," Draco countered. "Now come and have something to eat, I made dinner."

"I'm not really hungry," Hermione said. "What I really want is a bath and an early night."

"You can have a bath after you've ate," Draco ordered, gently steering Hermione towards the kitchen.

"Has anyone very told you that you're very bossy?" Hermione questioned, although she couldn't help but smile as Draco took care of her. She knew it was just his way of making sure she knew how much he loved and cared for her.

"I can't believe you'd have the nerve to call anyone bossy," Draco laughed as he dished up two plates of pasta bake from the dish he'd been magically keeping warm.

"What are you implying?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes at her fiancé.

"Put it this way, being in charge of an entire department will suit you down to the ground," Draco retorted with a cheeky smile.

"More people to boss around?"

"Exactly."

"Cheeky git," Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes at Draco.

"But you love me," Draco declared with a smug smile.

"I do," Hermione replied softly.

"I love you too," Draco said sincerely.

As they ate dinner, which Hermione had seconds of, as once she'd started to eat she realised she was indeed hungry, she told Draco about the initial results of the tests she was running. Not that it was big surprise that they were testing Bugs-Bee-Gone. The answers would only really come once they had the full analysis back and they found out if Neville's home-made potion was the real deal, and if it had been used to kill Cho.

"Do you still fancy that bath?" Draco asked his fiancée as they finished eating.

"I do," Hermione replied with a nod. "I'll just clean up here and then I'm going to spend an hour in the tub."

"Just leave the dishes and I'll do them later," Draco said as he moved towards the doorway. "I'll go and run you your bath."

"What are you after Draco?" Hermione called after her fiancé as he left the kitchen.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked with a frown, turning back to face Hermione who was now standing in the kitchen doorway.

"You've done nothing but fuss over me since I came home," Hermione said. "You want something."

"Can't a guy just make a fuss of the woman he loves?" Draco asked with an arched eyebrow. "Especially since she's carrying his unborn child."

"So you don't want anything?" Hermione checked.

"Not a thing, I just love you," Draco answered with a shrug. Blowing Hermione a kiss, he then turned and headed off to run her a bath.

Instead of leaving the dishes for Draco, Hermione used magic to wash and dry them. Once they were then stacked back in the correct cupboards, she headed off to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom, where a steaming hot bubble bath was waiting for her.

"It looks amazing," Hermione said with a sigh as she stripped off her clothes. "Do you fancy helping me scrub my back?" she asked Draco, who was leaning against the door watching her.

"What about the dishes?"

"All done." Removing the last of her clothes, Hermione threw her lacy knickers at Draco. "Are you joining in, or not?"

"I don't need asking twice," Draco said, hastily stripping off his own clothes.

"Actually, you did," Hermione pointed out.

"Semantics," Draco huffed, waving a dismissive hand as he stepped out of his underwear and strode towards the large bath.

Climbing into the bath with her fiancé, Hermione let out a blissful sigh as she settled herself in front of Draco. Leaning back against him, she shut her eyes and let the stresses of the last few weeks seep out of her. For a long time the couple lay in silence, just relaxing, until Draco reached for a wash-cloth and splashing it with Hermione's body wash, he lathered it up and began to rub it over her skin.

"That feels so good," Hermione murmured as Draco's large hands swept over her skin, cleansing it.

"You just relax and leave everything to me," Draco said, kissing Hermione's cheek.

After washing her, he grabbed her shampoo and washed her hair. His hands then went back to roaming over her body, only this time without the wash-cloth. Hermione could instantly tell that his touches were now aimed to arouse her rather than soothe her, which he managed superbly and by the time his hands crept in-between her thighs, Hermione only had one thing on her mind.

"Bed," Hermione gasped, turning around to kiss Draco.

"As you wish," Draco replied in a low voice.

Clamouring out of the tub, Draco swept Hermione up into his arms and carried her to their bed. Neither of them cared that they were soaking wet and covered in bubbles as they made love. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that they realised what a mess they'd made and reluctantly had to get back out of bed to tidy up. Fortunately magic made the clean-up easy and within ten minutes they were back in bed with fresh, clean bedding, making love yet again.

* * *

Less than five minutes before Neville was due to arrive, Hermione arrived in the Auror department with the final results of the analysis she'd ran overnight. As usual, the men were set up in the conference room and Hermione joined them at the large table in the centre of the room.

"It's a match," she announced, handing her results to Harry. "This Bugs-Bee-Gone has slight differences to the mass manufactured version and Professor Sprout's version. But it matches perfectly with the potion we retrieved from Cho's system. I can now saw with certain that she was killed by a potion made by Neville."

"But not that Neville killed her," Ron said. They'd all been expecting the result, but it didn't mean they hadn't secretly been hoping that Neville's potion wasn't the one that had killed Cho.

"No, of that I can't say," Hermione said. "Knowing Neville, I would say he wouldn't kill anyone. But someone with access to his potion did kill Cho."

"And right at the minute, my money is in Granny Longbottom," Draco said.

"Augusta?" Ron asked. "Why her?"

"She was the one who gave us the wrong Bugs-Bee-Gone when we asked for a sample of Longbottom's version," Draco answered. "Maybe she thought we wouldn't realise it was the mass manufactured version. She likely thought that it wouldn't match the sample we had, so we would move on with the investigation."

"Or it could be a simple mistake," Ron argued. "She is an old woman. Maybe she's suffering from some sort of dementia."

"Neville was pretty sure that she was still as sharp as a tack," Harry replied. "Plus, she seemed perfectly fine when we spoke to her. But either way, she provided the false sample. We need to talk to her."

"I'll go and find her while you two take Neville to Azkaban," Ron said.

"If he turns up," Draco said quietly, checking the time and finding that Neville should be arriving any moment now.

"You think he'll back out of coming?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Draco admitted. "But going to Azkaban isn't a pleasant experience. He could easily have second thoughts."

"I don't think that's going to happen," Ron said, nodding his head towards the glass door where Neville was clearly visible, talking with an M.L.E officer.

Eager to get their third visit to Azkaban over with, Harry and Draco grabbed their jackets and went out to greet Neville. Before they went they informed Neville that his potion had been used to kill Cho. Understandably Neville didn't take the news very well and he was so shaken by the news that something he had made had killed someone that he had to sit down for a few minutes.

"We're sorry Neville," Harry said, placing a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Who could have done this?" Neville asked, looking up at Harry with tears in his eyes. "It has to be someone I trust, doesn't it? The killer is someone I've given my Bugs-Bee-Gone to."

"More than likely," Harry said. "Unless it was stolen. Could it have been stolen from somewhere?"

"Not from me," Neville replied with a shake of his head. "I brew it at Hogwarts, and it's kept in secure greenhouse on the grounds. The greenhouse had wards around it, and they haven't been broken. I also keep the greenhouse at home protected, and that's the only place I keep Bugs-Bee-Gone. Again, no-one has broken into that either."

"We're going to need a complete list of everyone you've given it to," Draco said. "We got some names from your grandmother. She said it was the staff at Hogwarts, and your father-in-law."

"That's it," Neville said with a nod. "None of my friends are into gardening, so I don't share it with too many people."

"We can sort out the full list when we get back," Harry said. "You are still up for going to Azkaban, aren't you?"

"I'll go," Neville answered in a steely voice. "Not that I'm sure I want to go, mind you," he added quietly.

"We feel the same way," Draco said sympathetically. "It's an awful place, and if we didn't sometimes have to go for work, I would never dream of setting foot in that place. You're a braver man then me, Longbottom."

"I don't know about that," Neville said with a small smile.

Knowing that small talk was merely delaying the inevitable, Harry suggested they got going and before Neville could change his mind, the trio headed down to the atrium and flooed to Azkaban. They were settled in the same room they always used for visits, and while Harry and Draco sat down at the table, Neville paced the floor beside the tiny window. Both Harry and Draco could see how nervous Neville was, and they didn't blame him one bit. After all, he was about to face the witch that was responsible for his parents being in such a bad way that they'd been unable to raise him.

After a few minutes the door was opened and a scowling Bellatrix was brought into the room and settled in her chair opposite Harry and Draco. She clearly hadn't noticed Neville, who had stopped pacing and was standing against the wall, as her focus was all on her nephew and his partner.

"I thought I made myself clear last time," Bellatrix sneered as the guards backed out of the room and left her in the custody of the two men sitting opposite her. "I won't talk to either of you, again."

"How about me?" Neville asked in shaky voice as he pushed himself away from the wall. "Will you talk to me?"

Bellatrix was clearly so shaken by Neville's presence that for once she didn't manage to contain her emotions immediately and both Draco and Harry spotted the tender look that flitted over her face before she got herself under control. The look was so brief that if the two Aurors hadn't been watching, they would have missed it, but they'd seen it and the stoic expression she now had plastered on her face didn't fool them for one minute.

"I won't talk to anyone," Bellatrix said haughtily.

"Please," Neville begged, sitting himself down in between Draco and Harry.

"Why?" Bellatrix asked, eyeing Neville warily. "Why would you want to talk to me? I all but killed your parents."

"Because you were looking for your son," Neville said evenly. He didn't for one moment believe that the suffering Bellatrix had been going through justified what she'd done to his parents, but he knew that showing his some empathy might help her talk to him.

"I was," Bellatrix whispered. "They knew where he was," she confided in a low voice, leaning across the table to be closer to Neville. "I begged them to tell me. I begged Frank to tell me the truth. You look so like him, so handsome."

Draco and Harry exchanged a surprised, and worried look, as Bellatrix's words. It sounded as though it was Frank Longbottom she'd been involved with, not Voldemort. They'd been assuming the baby she'd had was Voldemort's, but they could have been wrong. After all, they'd never specifically asked the medi-witch who helped deliver the baby who the father was. They'd assumed Voldemort, and her description seemed to fit him, but what if she'd been talking about Frank?

"You knew my father?" Neville questioned.

"He would have told me, I know he would," Bellatrix continued, not answering Neville's question. "He would have told me where to find my son."

"Why didn't he?" Neville asked.

"She stopped him," Bellatrix sneered, a look of pure hatred coming over her face. "Sodding Alice. She was there, chirping in his ear, telling him not to tell me anything. I broke her first, hoping Frank would then see sense, but he didn't. He obeyed his wife right to the end."

"And you never found your son," Neville supplied for her.

"No," Bellatrix whispered. "I tried to tell someone, but they wouldn't listen to me. I was sent to this hell hole and my son grew up without me."

"Yet you know who he is," Neville said. "How?"

"I would know my son from a million different children," Bellatrix answered, giving Neville a tender look.

"Am I your son?" Neville asked, forcing the words from his mouth even though all he wanted to do was get as far away from Bellatrix as he could manage.

"Yes," Bellatrix whispered. "I was looking for you, Neville. They stole you from me. Dumbledore persuaded Frank to snatch you from me and tell me that you'd died. But I never believed it. I always knew you were out there."

"Yet you held your wand to my throat that time at the Ministry," Neville said, letting his distaste enter his voice. "I can remember it. You taunted me about my parents, and threatened me."

"I never would have hurt you," Bellatrix said. "I was making sure none of the others hurt you."

"So you were protecting me?" Neville asked with a bark of humourless laughter.

"I was," Bellatrix answered. "I wanted so badly to take you away and tell you the truth, but I knew we couldn't have been together at that point. I was hoping that after The Dark Lord took control, I would have another chance with you."

"And did you tell Cho all this?" Neville pressed, getting to the real reason he was there. "Did you tell Cho that I was your son?"

"She was the first person who listened to me," Bellatrix replied. "She listened, and she believed me."

"And who is my father?" Neville asked.

"You know who your father is, Neville," Bellatrix replied with a light laugh. "Frank is your father. We were in love, and he was going to leave Alice. We were going to be together. Until Dumbledore stuck his nose in and turned him against me. Dumbledore is the one to blame here, he stopped us from being a family."

"I've heard enough," Neville spat, jumping to his feet and causing the chair he'd been sitting in to topple over. Without another look at Bellatrix, he turned and bolted from the room.

Harry and Draco stayed long enough to try and get Bellatrix to carry on talking, but with Neville out of the room she refused to say anything more. Leaving her to the guards, the two Aurors left the room and found Neville standing at the doorway of the prison, taking in some fresh air.

"She's twisted," Neville whispered. "That stuff was all lies, evil lies."

"I don't think she can distinguish between reality and fantasy any more," Draco said diplomatically. The trouble was, even though he agreed with Neville that everything Bellatrix had said was twisted and lies, they still had to check it out as it could lead them to Cho's killer.

"Come on, let's get back to the Ministry," Harry said, patting Neville on the shoulder.

However, what Harry didn't realise was that Neville's day was about to go from bad to worse, and returning to the Ministry would do little to help him. In fact he was about to walk into the biggest nightmare of his life.


	15. Chapter 14

Once Draco and Harry had taken Neville to Azkaban, Ron left the Ministry in search of Augusta Longbottom. To be honest, Ron couldn't believe that the old woman had anything to do with Cho's death, despite Draco's understandable suspicions of her. Ron was convinced that there was a reasonable explanation as to why the sample of Bugs-Bee-Gone she'd given to his colleagues wasn't Neville's brew. He knew Neville didn't believe his gran was going senile, but Ron knew that people didn't always want to face the truth about their family members and there was a chance Neville didn't want to admit the only guardian he'd ever known was slipping away from him.

Determined that he would easily find Augusta and they could clear up the confusion before Harry and Draco even returned from Azkaban, Ron arrived at the village where the old woman lived. He knew Harry and Draco hadn't managed to track her down the previous day, but Ron hadn't expected to face the same problem. However, there was no answer when he knocked at Augusta's cottage, and her neighbour said she hadn't seen Augusta since the previous morning.

Refusing to believe that Augusta had gone into hiding, Ron continued his search for Neville's grandmother. He tried St Mungo's, where Frank and Alice were long term residents, and even Diagon Alley in case she'd just gone shopping. Finally, Ron ended up at Neville's house in the hopes his gran had called round and was with Luna.

"Sorry Ron, I haven't seen Augusta this morning," Luna informed him when she answered the door and he enquired after her grandmother-in-law. "But come in and have a cup of tea."

"Thanks Luna," Ron said, following his friend into the house.

As the pair made their way to the kitchen, neither of them noticed the floo network in the floo room activate and Augusta quietly step from the flames. They also didn't see the look of horror on her face as she spotted Ron in her grandson's house, nor did they notice her following them towards the kitchen. However, while Ron and Luna entered the kitchen, Augusta stayed in the hallway, eavesdropping on the conversation.

"How's work?" Luna asked politely as she made the tea.

"Exhausting," Ron replied. "I hate dealing with cases when you know the people involved."

"It must be tough on Harry, investigating his ex-girlfriend's death," Luna remarked.

"It's tough on us all," Ron said. "Although it probably is harder for Harry since he knew Cho better than us."

"I'm sure you'll get to the bottom of this mess sooner or later," Luna said encouragingly.

"Let's hope so," Ron replied, thanking Luna as she handed him a cup of tea.

"Hopefully Neville can help," Luna said. "Did you see him today?"

"Briefly," Ron answered. "Draco and Harry whisked him off to Azkaban almost as soon as he arrived at the Ministry."

"No!"

Both Luna and Ron jumped at the loud, pain filled wail and they were both stunned to find Augusta clutching the door-frame as she stood in the doorway, watching them with wide eyes.

"Mrs Longbottom," Ron said, placing his tea on the kitchen bench. "I've been looking for you."

"You evil boy," Augusta yelled, launching herself at Ron and scratching his face with deceptively sharp finger nails. "Neville is your friend. How dare you condemn my grandson. He doesn't deserve to be in Azkaban."

"Augusta," Luna gasped, pulling her raging grandmother-in-law away from a stunned Ron.

"And you, you're no better," Augusta seethed, turning on Luna. "Drinking tea with someone who's locked your husband up. My Neville is innocent I tell you, he's innocent."

"Innocent of what?" Luna asked with a frown.

"He didn't do it," Augusta insisted, whirling back to face Ron, who instinctively took a step backwards in case she was going to try and scratch him again. "My Neville is innocent. He didn't kill that girl. I did."

"You what?" Ron gasped as Luna let out a choked sob and clutched at the kitchen table for support.

"I killed her," Augusta shouted. "I killed her, so you have to let my Neville go. Let him out of Azkaban."

"Neville hasn't been arrested," Ron said quietly. "He's helping Draco and Harry with a line of enquiry."

"Oh," Augusta muttered, going still as she sucked in a couple of deep breaths. "In that case, I take it all back. I was merely trying to save my grandson. It's all nonsense of course," she said airily, waving his hand dismissively in the air.

"I'm sorry Mrs Longbottom, but I can't just let a confession like that go without an investigation. Augusta Longbottom I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder," Ron said apologetically.

"You can't," Augusta snapped. "I was lying. I thought you had arrested my grandson. I don't even know the girl who was killed."

"I'm sorry, but I have to take you into the Ministry," Ron stated firmly. "We can talk properly at the Ministry."

"I won't say a word without my lawyer," Augusta threatened.

"That's your right," Ron said. "Are you going to come quietly, or do I have to cuff you?"

The last thing Ron wanted to do was cuff an old woman, but he knew he would have to if Augusta was going to be problematic. Fortunately, the old woman seemed to realise she was backed into a corner and she agreed to accompany Ron to the Ministry without a fuss.

"Luna, you should come too," Ron said, gently taking hold of Augusta's arm. "I think Neville might need your support."

"Why? I'm completely innocent," Augusta protested.

"Then hopefully we can prove that and you'll be returning home with Neville and Luna," Ron said gently, even though deep in the pit of his stomach he believed that her confession had been genuine and that he had Cho's killer in his hands.

Hardly able to believe what was happening, Ron escorted Augusta and Luna to the Ministry. Luna was settled in the relatives room by an M.L.E officer, while Ron booked Augusta into custody and she was settled in one of the interview rooms. By the time all that was sorted and he'd arranged for an M.L.E officer to bring the old woman a cup of tea, he emerged from the room to find Hermione waiting for him.

"Is it true?" she asked. "You've arrested Neville's gran."

"She confessed," Ron said sadly, gingerly fingering the deep scratches the old woman had caused on his face.

"Let me look at your face," Hermione offered, leading Ron into the Auror department and into the room they'd been using to work in. "She got you good," she remarked as she began to clean her friend up.

"She caught me by surprise," Ron said defensively. The last thing he wanted was for word to spread that an old woman had gotten the better of him. "Are they very bad? I've got a date with Penelope at the weekend, and I don't want to look as though I've been gouged by a vicious cat."

"I can give you a potion that'll heal them by the weekend," Hermione said. "So how are things going with Penelope?"

"Good," Ron replied. "I just wish Percy wasn't such an arse whenever he's around. I mean, he was with Penelope years ago, and he's bloody well moved on. Why shouldn't I be with her?"

"He'll come around in time," Hermione said as she finished tending to Ron's face. "Back to Neville's gran. Do you think she did it?"

"She confessed," Ron answered with a shrug. "She was listening to Luna and I, and she heard me mention Azkaban and assumed Neville had been arrested. She confessed to get him out, and when I pointed out that he hadn't been arrested she changed her mind."

"But you think it's true," Hermione said.

"I don't want to, but yes, I think she was telling the truth," Ron said with a deep sigh. "I think she murdered Cho."

"But why?" Hermione asked. "Even if Bellatrix had latched onto Neville as her son, it's not true, so why would it prompt Augusta to kill Cho?"

"I don't know, but hopefully Harry and Draco can get some answers from her," Ron said.

"You're not going to interview her?" Hermione asked.

"No, Draco and Harry are better at it than I am," Ron answered. "But I am going to go and check if she still wants her lawyer. I also want to go and check on Luna, she came in with us and she's in the relatives room."

"I'll go and sit with Luna, you sort things with Augusta," Hermione said as the friends went their separate ways.

It didn't take Ron long to speak to Augusta and find that she'd changed her mind and didn't want a lawyer. However, she was also claiming that the only person she would talk to was Neville. After making it clear to Augusta that talking to her grandson wasn't going to be an option, he left her in the interview room and awaited Harry, Draco and Neville's return from Azkaban.

Ron didn't have to wait too long and he caught the trio as they alighted from the lift. Instantly it was obvious to the trio that something was wrong, and rather than beat around the bush, Ron came straight out with it and informed them that he'd arrested Neville's gran for Cho's murder.

"No," Neville gasped, shaking his head back and forth in bewilderment. "She can't have killed anyone. She's my gran."

"She confessed," Ron gently told his friend. "She thought you had been arrested, and she confessed."

"So she was just trying to save me?" Neville questioned hopefully. "It doesn't mean she did it."

"If that was the case, it means she thinks you did," Draco pointed out. He hadn't wanted the killer to be Neville's grandmother, but it did make sense in a twisted sort of way, especially after what Bellatrix had told them.

"No, Gran would never think that," Neville said stubbornly. "There has to be some sort of mistake."

"We'll get to the bottom of it, Neville," Harry promised.

"Luna's in the relatives room if you want to sit with her," Ron offered.

"I want to see my gran," Neville said.

"You can't," Harry said gently, placing a hand on his friend's arm. "Not until we've talked to her. Let us talk to her Neville, and I promise you can see her afterwards."

With a reluctant nod, Neville allowed Harry to escort him to the relatives room, where he sat down next to his equally stunned wife and they consoled each other. After offering her sympathies to Neville, Hermione exited the room and the four investigators held a brief meeting in the room next door to where Augusta was sitting waiting to be interviews. The room they were in held the glass mirror that allowed them to see the room, and they all watched Neville's grandmother as she sipped on her tea, a terrified look on her face.

"Is she guilty?" Harry asked, hardly able to believe he was about to question the woman who's raised Neville on suspicion of murder.

"It fits in a bizarre sort of way," Draco said. "Bella confessed that she thinks Neville is her son," he informed Ron and Hermione. "That's what she told Cho."

"Although she also claimed that Frank is still his father," Harry added.

"She's claiming to have had an affair with one of the best Aurors of his time?" Ron asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Draco answered.

"What about Voldemort? Wasn't the child his?" Hermione asked.

"Actually, we just assumed that," Harry said with an embarrassed wince. "Rodolphus put us on that path, and we were happy to go along with it. Until today, Bellatrix has never mentioned the identity of the father of her child, and even at the clinic we never got confirmation that Voldemort was the wizard with her."

"You're not saying you believe this, are you?" Ron questioned with a scowl. "You don't believe that Neville is Bellatrix's son, do you?

"At the minute, I don't know what to believe," Harry admitted. "This entire case has my head in a complete spin. But I do know we need to get some confirmation from the medi-witch we spoke to. We need to know for sure who the wizard with Bellatrix was when she had her baby. Was it Voldemort, or was it Frank Longbottom?"

"I can do that," Hermione volunteered. "You three just get to the bottom of this. Not only does Neville now need some answers, but so does Cho's family. We need to find out for sure who killed her and why."

Leaving the three Aurors to do what they did best, Hermione headed off to try and speak to the medi-witch who had helped deliver Bellatrix's baby. With Hermione hopefully getting them some answers about the father of Bellatrix's baby, Harry and Draco headed into the interview room to hopefully get some answers from Augusta Longbottom. Sadly for the two Aurors, Augusta was deadly serious when she said she wouldn't talk to anyone but her grandson and after an hour of getting nothing the pair retreated from the room.

"What now?" Ron asked.

"We need Kingsley," Harry said.

"You think she'll talk to the Minister?" Draco asked in surprise.

"No, I need his permission to do something very unorthodox," Harry answered.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Allow Neville to interview his grandmother," Harry replied. "It's the only way we're going to get to the truth. We need to get Neville in there to talk to her."


	16. Chapter 15

When Kingsley heard what Harry wanted to do with Augusta Longbottom, he laughed at the suggestion until he realised that the Auror was serious. Harry patiently explained everything to Kingsley, and both he and Draco admitted that they didn't think they would be able to get the old woman to talk. Hearing his two best Aurors admitting defeat had Kingsley taking the request very seriously.

"I really don't know if anything she says will then be considered a legal confession," Kingsley remarked as he mulled over his options. "A good lawyer should be able to argue that anything she says is merely a conversation between a grandmother and grandson, and therefore can't be used in a court of law."

"Surely right now the most important thing is getting to the truth," Harry argued. "We need to know what, if anything, Augusta Longbottom knows about Cho's death. If her confession really was just a tactic to save Neville because she truly thought he'd been arrested, we need to know. We could have followed this path for nothing, and Cho's killer could still be out there, not even a blip on our radar. Before we can either close the case, or take it in a totally different direction, we need the truth from Augusta."

"And you think her grandson is the only way to get it?" Kingsley checked.

"I do," Harry replied with a nod. "Can we at least talk to Neville and see if he's willing to help us?"

"Yes," Kingsley said with a decisive nod of his head as he rose from behind his desk. "I don't know about the legalities of what we're about to do, but if Neville is willing, I'll allow him in to interview his grandmother. However, either you or Draco are with him the entire time, and I will be watching everything."

Harry was more than happy to agree to Kingsley's terms, and together they headed back to the Auror department. While Kingsley got settled in the viewing room to watch the interview with Augusta, Harry entered the relatives room where he explained the situation to Neville and Luna. The couple were still clearly in shock, and it was obvious to Harry that neither of them thought Augusta was capable of cold blooded murder.

"You want me to interview my grandmother?" Neville asked in disbelief once what Harry was asking of him sank in.

"She won't talk to us Neville," Harry said. "We need to know the truth about her confession. Was it just an attempt to save you, or was there more to it? Please Neville, Cho's family needs some answers."

"They're not the only ones," Neville said with a sigh as he turned to his wife. "What do I do, Luna?"

"Help in any way you can," Luna urged her husband. "And that means talking to your gran. Go and find out the truth, Neville."

"The truth is either that she killed Cho, which I can't believe, or she thinks I did it," Neville replied. "I don't believe she's capable of murder, but she might think that of me. What have I ever done to make her think I would take someone's life?"

"I don't know Neville, but you're never going to rest until you find out the truth," Luna said. "Go with Harry and talk to your gran."

"Will you be with me the entire time?" Neville asked Harry as he turned back to his friend.

"Either me or Draco will be with you," Harry replied.

"No offence to Malfoy, but I would rather you stayed with me," Neville said as he got to his feet.

"So you'll do it?" Harry checked.

"I will," Neville answered as he took a deep breath. "Do you have a list of questions you want me to ask?"

"Just get the truth out of her," Harry said. "If there's anything I want to know, I can ask myself. If she won't answer me, I'm hoping you can push her into answering you."

"I'll try my best," Neville promised. Giving his wife a quick kiss, he left her in the relatives room and followed Harry towards the interview room his gran was being held in.

While Neville took a couple of minutes to compose himself, Harry poked his head into the adjoining room and announced that they were ready to go. Ron and Draco were in the room with Kingsley, and the trio would observe everything that went on while Neville spoke to his grandmother. Re-joining Neville, Harry checked his friend was ready before leading him into the room where the witch who had raised him was waiting.

"Neville," Augusta gasped when her grandson entered the room behind Harry. "What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Neville replied in a shaky voice. "You're the one whose been arrested."

"It's all a misunderstanding," Augusta replied with a hesitant smile as her grandson sat down opposite her, while Harry settled in the chair beside him and sat back to watch for the time being.

"You've been arrested on suspicion of murder? How is that a misunderstanding?" Neville demanded.

"Young Ron got the wrong end of the stick," Augusta replied. "He's a nice boy, but I really don't think he's very smart," she whispered to her grandson, tapping the side of her head.

"How could he get the wrong end of the stick, you confessed Gran," Neville pointed out. "Luna heard you. You said you'd killed Cho."

"Only because I thought you'd been carted off to Azkaban," Augusta argued, reaching across the table to grab hold of her grandson's hand. "I was trying to protect you, Neville."

"So you thought I had killed Cho?" Neville asked.

"No, I never thought anything of the sort," Augusta said, vehemently shaking her head. "But innocent people are sometimes wrongly accused of a crime. I was afraid you would be arrested because of circumstantial evidence. I just panicked and blurted out the first thing that came into my head."

"Did you panic when you gave me the wrong sample of Bugs-Bee-Gone?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time. "Did you think we were trying to frame Neville?"

"Answer him Gran," Neville ordered when his grandmother clamped her mouth shut and glared at Harry. "I want to know why you didn't give Harry a sample of my home brewed potion."

"I don't know why I did it," Augusta confessed with a shrug. "I had the top of your bottle, and then at the last minute I changed my mind and gave them some of the shop bought stuff that we had left. I didn't think anyone would ever be able to tell the difference."

"Our forensics expert is very good," Harry said.

"Yes, I'd rather forgotten that Hermione Granger was in charge of that department," Augusta mused.

"You know what Gran, I don't believe you," Neville said, studying the witch he'd known all his life and deciding that she was lying to him. "You're not telling me the truth. Or at least not all of it."

"What are you saying Neville, that I killed that girl?" Augusta asked with a brittle laugh that sounded forced to both wizards.

"Did you?" Neville whispered, having to force the words from his lips. "Did you kill Cho?"

"Of course not," Augusta protested. "Why would I do such a thing?"

"Because she threatened to tell the world I was Bellatrix Lestrange's son," Neville replied.

"You are not her son, you are my grandson," Augusta stated forcefully.

"I know that," Neville said, keeping eye contact with his grandmother as he knew from experience that when she didn't want to tell him the truth she couldn't look him in the eye. "But who is my mother? Is it Mum, or Bellatrix?"

"You know who your mother is Neville," Augusta said, pulling her hand from her grandson's grasp and looking away from him.

"I don't believe it," Neville gasped in a shaky voice as he turned to look at Harry in shock. "I think it might be true. I think Bellatrix might be my mother."

"Is she Mrs Longbottom?" Harry asked, giving his friend a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Is Bellatrix Lestrange, Neville's birth mother?"

"Please Gran, I need to know," Neville pleaded, once again reaching for his grandmother's hands. "Is she my mother?"

"I don't know," Augusta admitted with a broken cry, keeping eye contact with her only grandson. "I really don't know."

"But it's a possibility?" Neville asked as his grandmother began to cry.

"Yes, it's a possibility," Augusta answered through her tears.

"And did you kill Cho because of it?" Harry asked when Neville tried to voice the question but couldn't find the words.

"I didn't mean to kill her," Augusta whispered, focusing on Neville and silently pleading with her eyes for him to believe her. "But she just wouldn't let it drop. She wouldn't listen to reason. She was going to publish her claims, even though she had no proof of what she was saying. She was going to destroy you, Neville."

"Me? You did this for me?" Neville choked out.

"I didn't want you to suffer," Augusta answered softly. "If she'd made her claims your entire life would have been ruined. No-one would ever look at you in the same way. They would always be looking at you, looking for some sign of her. You would have been judged forever as the son of that crazy monster. I couldn't let that happen, Neville. I tried to stop her, but she just wouldn't listen."

"What exactly happened, Mrs Longbottom?" Harry asked gently. "What happened with Cho?"

"Tell us Gran," Neville pleaded when his grandmother didn't answer straight away.

"She came to see me one afternoon," Augusta began, her eyes glazing over as she recalled how exactly she'd come into contact with Cho. "She said she'd tried your house, but you weren't in. She said she knew you from school, so I invited her inside. That was when she told me. That was when she told me who your mother might be."

"You never knew before?" Harry asked.

"The second she mentioned Bellatrix everything fell into place," Augusta continued, almost as if she hadn't heard Harry's question. "All the niggling little things that weren't right suddenly made sense. I could see it might be true. Of course I denied it and reminded her that she had no proof and couldn't make such claims. She told me that she wasn't claiming anything, all she intended to do was give Bellatrix a voice and let the world know what she was saying. I tried to reason with her, but she told me she was going to tell Bellatrix's story and there was nothing I could do about it."

"So you killed her?" Neville asked in an emotionless voice as he tried to wrap his head around what he was hearing.

"Not then, we argued and she left," Augusta replied. "I gave her a couple of days to calm down before I sought her out to make her listen to reason. I called around to her house, but again she wouldn't listen to me. She was nice enough and she let me say my peace, but she wouldn't be swayed. She told me that she was going to write her story and that she would try to contact you again, wanting your side of the story."

"So then you killed her," Neville stated in a shaky voice.

"Sitting in her house, I realised that she wasn't going to back down," Augusta whispered. "I didn't really think, I just acted. I faked a coughing fit and when she went to get me some water, I slipped some Bugs-Bee-Gone into her tea. I had some in my bag to give to an old friend I was meeting for afternoon tea. I changed my mind almost as soon as she returned, but she drank the rest of her tea before I could stop her and before I knew it, she was dying."

"But yet you still took advantage of her death," Harry said. "You removed all her work, and even tidied up the cups."

"Yes, once she was dead, I was sorry and regretted what I'd done, but I wasn't going to leave without what I'd come for. After tidying up to hide the fact I'd been there, I went searching for her notes. I didn't have time to go through all of her work, so I took everything I could find. I was hoping the story would die with her."

"I don't understand," Neville whispered. "How did you think this was protecting me? You killed a woman, Gran. You were always going to be caught, and the story was always going to come out."

"I just didn't want you to be hurt," Augusta whispered.

"I'm a thirty year old man, Gran," Neville pointed out. "I don't need you to look out for me. I'm an adult. I could have handled the accusations."

"But you shouldn't have had to," Augusta snapped, her despair giving way to anger. "You shouldn't have to hear these allegations. Damn your father, this is all Frank's fault."

"Maybe we should talk about Frank," Harry suggested. "Why did you think this could be true, Augusta?"

"What aren't you telling us, Gran?" Neville pried.

"They had an affair," Augusta confessed in a broken voice.

"Dad and Bellatrix?" Neville gasped.

"A couple of years before you were born," Augusta said. "Frank had started acting out of character, and he and Alice were arguing a lot. I confronted him one evening and he broke down and confessed everything. He told me about the affair, and about how he wanted out. Not only would it have destroyed his marriage, but it would have killed his career. He was an Auror and he was sleeping with a suspected Death Eater. It would have been a scandal."

"Did he end the affair?" Harry asked.

"He told me he did, and things did get better between him and Alice," Augusta admitted.

"So what makes you think what Bellatrix is saying is true if all this happened before I was born?" Neville questioned.

"Alice's pregnancy came out of the blue," Augusta admitted. "Things were better between her and Frank, but they still weren't perfect. I went to look after my late husband's brother after he'd had a fall and when I returned, Alice was several months pregnant. They claimed they discovered they were expecting rather late. Alice didn't want me involved in the pregnancy, and she actively avoided me when we'd always gotten along so well. Then one morning I got a message from Frank saying that Alice had given birth to a boy. She was then back home the same day and that was when I got to meet my grandson."

"So what you're saying is that the pregnancy was shrouded in mystery," Harry said thoughtfully.

"I didn't think so at the time, and once Neville was born, everything went back to normal between Alice and I. To be honest, I never gave any of this a second thought until that girl turned up claiming that Neville was Bellatrix's son. It reminded me of all this, and I got to thinking that maybe it could be true. Bellatrix could have given birth to Neville, and I never would have known."

"And Mum and Dad aren't in a state to ask what really happened," Neville whispered.

"No, I couldn't ask them," Augusta said with a sigh.

"But you still shouldn't have killed Cho," Neville said. "I could have handled what she was saying. And we could have found out the truth together. I'm guessing a simple test will reveal the truth about my parentage."

"It will," Harry answered with a nod. "Although we have it on good authority that Bellatrix's baby died."

"But she was pregnant?" Augusta checked.

"She was," Harry confirmed with a nod.

"Then her baby's death could have been faked," Augusta insisted. "If Neville is her son, it was always the plan for Alice to raise him. If that was the case, faking the death of her child upon birth would have been the best way to get Neville away from her."

"What you're saying makes sense," Neville said to his gran. "I can see why you thought what you did, and even now I still have my doubts over who my mother is. But there is no excuse for killing Cho. She'd done nothing wrong, Gran. You killed an innocent witch for no reason. The story is still going to come out, only now I don't just have a killer as a potential mother, I've got one as a grandmother. You haven't saved me from heartache, Gran, you've merely caused it."

"It was never meant to be like this Neville," Augusta whispered as he grandson suddenly got to his feet. "Please forgive me."

"I can't," Neville whispered as tears pooled in his eyes. "I'm sorry Gran, but I just can't."

As the tears began to fall from his eyes, Neville took one final look at the witch who'd raised him, before he fled the room and ran back to his wife. Harry also left the interview room, where Augusta had broken down in tears and was crying out for her grandson, and joined his colleagues in the next room.

"Poor Neville," Ron whispered, his voice echoing the shock they all felt.

"Can we charge her?" Draco asked.

"I'll check the legalities of this exact confession, but my guess is that she'll repeat what she's just said in an official interview," Kingsley replied. "Now the truth is out, I think she'll want to try and accept the consequences of her actions. I've seen plenty of confessions during my time as an Auror, and I believe that Augusta Longbottom is genuinely sorry for what she's done."

"I'm not sure that's going to make Neville or Cho's family feel any better," Harry said with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. "Cho was killed because of a rumour, and as of yet we don't even know if the rumour is true."

"Do you think Neville will want to find out the truth?" Ron asked as Kingsley headed off to deal with the legalities of Augusta's confession.

"I don't know, but I guess we'll soon find out," Harry replied, taking one final look at Cho's killer before Ron headed off to move her to a cell while they awaited word about if they could charge her with murder.


	17. Chapter 16

Hermione returned to the Ministry to be greeted by the shocking news that Augusta had confessed to murdering Cho. Kingsley had confirmed that she could be charged for murder, and after spending a night in the holding cells at the Ministry, Harry and Draco would re-interview her in the hopes that she would repeat her confession. As for poor Neville, he was clearly in shock and Hermione was horrified for her friend as she was told the entirety of his grandmother's confession.

"I am so sorry Neville," Hermione said, giving her friend a hug. Given the circumstances of the case, Neville, along with Luna, had been allowed into the conference room they'd been using as a base as he waited for confirmation that his grandmother had been charged with murder.

"So am I," Neville whispered. "I can't believe this is happening. Just this morning everything was normal."

"I don't think anything is ever going to be normal again," Luna said with a sigh. Even though she'd never heard Augusta's confession with her own ears, she'd heard everything that had been said, and she was just as stunned by the revelations as her husband.

"So what happens now?" Neville asked. Just before Hermione had arrived, word had filtered through that his grandmother had indeed been charged with Cho's murder.

"We'll talk to your grandmother again in the morning, but then she'll be taken to Azkaban," Harry answered. "Given her age, the Ministry will likely ensure she has a speedy trial."

"But she'll never be free again, will she?" Neville pressed.

"I'm sorry, but no," Harry replied gravely. "She'll spend the rest of her life in Azkaban."

"And what about her claims?" Luna asked. "Or rather Bellatrix's claims. Can we prove or disprove them?"

"Hermione, did you find out anything?" Draco asked, suddenly remembering why his fiancée hadn't been present at the confession.

"I'm as sure as I can be that the wizard with Bellatrix in France was not Neville's father," Hermione replied. "I spoke to the same medi-witch we talked to and I showed her a picture of Frank. She swore that he wasn't the wizard with Bellatrix."

"Which doesn't necessarily prove anything," Neville said.

"No, it doesn't," Hermione agreed.

"What about Voldemort?" Harry asked. "Was he the wizard with Bellatrix?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "Unlike Frank, whose picture I could easily get hold of, I had problems finding a picture of Voldemort. I had a few press cuttings from after his return, but he wasn't exactly normal looking. I could also find a couple of pictures of him in his youth, but just a few blurry snaps of what he looked like during the height of the first war. She couldn't say for sure, but the medi-witch thought he could have been the wizard with Bellatrix."

"And even that doesn't prove anything," Neville said with a sigh. "Even if it was You-Know-Who with Bellatrix, it doesn't mean he was the father."

"I can't really see him taking such care of Bellatrix if the baby wasn't his," Draco mused. "He wasn't the sentimental sort."

"Even with a witch he was sleeping with?" Ron asked.

"I don't think he saw my aunt as anything other than a pleasant distraction," Draco said with a snort. "It could have been different before, but from what I witnessed after his return, she wasn't that special to him."

"So are we seriously considering that Bellatrix could be telling the truth?" Hermione asked. Even though she'd heard what Augusta had said, she was surprised by the fact that everyone in the room seemed willing to believe that Bellatrix was Neville's mother.

"I have to consider it," Neville confessed. "As much as I would love to push all of this out of my head, I know that is not an option. I need the truth."

"A simple DNA test will give you the truth," Hermione said. "I can run it for you, and I can assure that the results stay private."

"Thank you Hermione, I'd appreciate that," Neville said, giving his friend a small smile.

"You can have the honour of being the last test I run in the forensics lab," Hermione said.

"Last test?" Luna frowned. "Are you leaving?"

"Not leaving, just changing jobs," Hermione answered. "I've being offered a promotion. In a couple of weeks I'll be taking over as Head of the Law Department."

"That's great news Hermione," Neville said, genuinely happy for his friend and her success. "So what do you need for this DNA test?"

"Just a sample of your blood, hair or saliva," Hermione said. "Tomorrow I can get samples from Bellatrix and Alice and run the three of them together. This time tomorrow, you'll know the truth."

"Thank you," Neville repeated. "But you think I'm wasting my time, don't you?"

"No, I would never think you were wasting your time in wanting to know the truth about where you come from," Hermione assured her friend. "In your place, I would do the exact same thing."

"But you don't think Bellatrix is my mother," Neville stated.

"No, I don't," Hermione replied. "We've already established that her child died at birth."

"Have we?" Harry questioned. "All we've got is one medi-witch's word for it."

"You think she's lying?" Hermione asked. "Because I've just spoken to her again today, and I would swear she was telling the truth. She believes that child died at birth."

"Maybe it was what she was supposed to believe," Ron suggested. "I think it's clear that if what Bellatrix is claiming is true, it was always planned for Alice to raise Neville. Telling Bellatrix her child died at birth, was the perfect way for that to happen."

"A quick check of Alice's medical records will reveal if she ever did give birth," Hermione reminded her friends. "Or are you suggesting that her records could have been altered to show a pregnancy and birth?"

"It's a possibility," Harry said with a shrug. "Between Frank and Dumbledore, they could have pulled something like that off."

"And you think it's something that could have happened?" Hermione asked Neville.

"I don't know," Neville admitted. "But it does make sense. Mum's pregnancy came out of the blue, and she wouldn't let Gran help her in any way."

"Some people don't discover they're pregnant until well into the pregnancy. My own mother was nearly five months gone with me when she had a dizzy spell at work and a subsequent check-up at the doctors revealed she was pregnant," Hermione said. "And no offence to your Gran, but she seems like the domineering kind. Now, I don't know what your mother was like, but she might not have taken kindly to having someone interfering in her pregnancy. I already know I am not going to take kindly to people telling me what to do and how to cope with being pregnant, no matter how much I like them."

"Whoa, back up there Hermione," Neville said with a frown. "You're pregnant?"

"I am," Hermione answered with a small smile. "And I wasn't supposed to mention it. It's still early days, so we'd like to keep it under wraps for a bit longer."

"As if that's going to happen, half the world now knows," Ron laughed.

"Only family and close friends," Draco argued.

"And Kingsley," Harry said.

"Okay, so maybe it's not a huge secret," Hermione conceded. "But it is still pretty early, so I would rather not spread it any further."

"Your secret is safe with us," Neville promised. "And congratulations. You're going to be a brilliant mother."

"You'll be the best," Luna added. "Both of you," she said, smiling at Draco.

"Thanks," Hermione replied, enjoying the light-hearted moment, before refocusing on what they'd been talking about before. "So back to the point. I agree that everything Bellatrix is claiming could stand up to scrutiny, but there is another explanation."

"What?" Draco asked.

"If we believe that Frank and Bellatrix had an affair, and there's no reason for Augusta to lie about such a thing, then we know they've got a history together. If, as he promised his mother, Frank broke it off, Bellatrix could have easily fallen into Voldemort's bed on the rebound, or could even have been sleeping with him all along. It could just be a coincidence that both Bellatrix and Alice were pregnant around the same time, and when Bellatrix lost her baby, it tipped her already disturbed state of mind over the edge. In her grief, if she then heard about her former lover having a child with his wife, it wouldn't be implausible for her to get everything tangled up in her head and decide that Neville was her child."

"So you're suggesting this entire thing has been a figment of Bellatrix's imagination?" Ron asked his friend.

"It's something we have to consider," Hermione said. "If we're seriously considering that Frank, possibly with the help of Dumbledore, faked an entire pregnancy and then the death of a child, then we have to consider the fact that Bellatrix isn't sane and nothing she says can be relied upon. In her grief, it's all too possible that she got the past mixed up with the present and instead of accepting her child was dead, latched onto her former lover's son and claimed him as her own."

"All this is supposition and it's getting us nowhere," Neville said, shaking his head to try and dispel the headache that was brewing. "Until we have some DNA results, we're not going to know the truth."

"Neville's right, we could sit here all night coming up with theories about what happened thirty years ago," Harry agreed with a nod. "What we need to focus on was what happened recently. This is about Cho, and we shouldn't forget that."

"No, we shouldn't," Neville agreed. "Hermione, can you take what you need for the tests and then if it's okay, I'd like to go home with my wife."

"Of course," Hermione said.

"We're sorry about how the day worked out, Neville," Harry offered as Neville and Luna got up to leave with Hermione.

"Not as sorry as I am," Neville whispered in a broken voice as he left with Hermione to give the sample of his DNA so she could perform a test to find out just who his mother was.

* * *

Slightly less than twenty four hours after Neville had given his DNA sample, Hermione arrived at his house to deliver the results in person. She'd performed the test herself and done everything in her power to get a speedy answer. She'd then decided to visit Neville at home, so he wouldn't have to go back to the Ministry. His grandmother had repeated her confession to Draco and Harry that morning and was currently in Azkaban. Of course a statement had been made to the press, and already rumours were circulating as to why an upstanding citizen like Augusta Longbottom had killed a witch barely older than her grandson.

"You didn't need to come to me in person, Hermione," Neville said with a weary smile as he and Hermione settled in the front room while Luna made some tea.

"You're my friend, and I wanted to do this for you," Hermione said as she handed over the envelope with the DNA results inside.

"You know what they say, don't you?" Neville asked, placing the envelope beside him but not able to bring himself to look inside.

"I do," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "But I'm the only one. I ran the tests personally, and no-one else knows the results."

"Not even Malfoy?"

"Not even Draco," Hermione confirmed. "It's not my place to tell anyone anything, Neville."

"But the world will soon want to know what happened," Neville said with a sigh. "We've already had the press trying to get us to talk. Although the truth will come out soon enough. Everyone is going to know everything at the trial."

"They will," Hermione agreed with a sympathetic smile.

Augusta had been so convinced she'd done what she had to in order to protect Neville from gossip, but all she'd really done was put him in the centre of a media storm. Now Bellatrix's claims were going to be made public, and every single person in wizarding Britain was going to wonder about Neville and his parentage. In trying to protect her grandson, all Augusta had done was drawn attention to him.

"No matter what these results say, people will always have their own theories," Neville said, tapping the envelope with his fingers. "I could make these results public knowledge, and there would still be those who disbelieved them in order to believe whatever story they preferred."

"That can't be helped Neville," Hermione said. "But you didn't take the test for everyone, did you? You took it so that you can have some answers."

"I did, and I need to know the truth," Neville agreed. "But these results won't change some things. They won't change the fact that Alice Longbottom is my mother. I love her, Hermione, and even though I never really knew her, I know she loved me. And do you want to hear a crazy thing? I still love my gran. I hate what's she's done, and I'll never be able to forgive her for killing Cho, but I still love her. Mad, isn't it?"

"It's not mad, it's human nature," Hermione replied. "No matter what your gran has done, she's still your gran. She raised you, and no-one will blame you for loving her."

"How long do you think she'll survive in Azkaban?" Neville asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know," Hermione admitted. "At her age, whatever sentence she gets will likely mean life for her. I guess how long she lasts depends on her spirit."

"Normally, I would say she's got more spirit that anyone I know," Neville said with a rueful smile. "But I think all this has broken her. I don't think she'll last long at all."

"In that case I suggest you visit her and tell her that you love her," Hermione advised. "You can hate what she's done, without hating her. But if you really think she won't last long, tell her you love her. Don't regret not telling her what she means to you when you have the chance."

"I will," Neville vowed. "I'll tell her."

Luna arriving with the tea put an end to the conversation, and instead of talking about why Hermione was visiting, the trio made small talk as they drank their tea. When Hermione left, Neville still hadn't opened the test results and he sat staring at them for a long time after his friend had departed.

"We can burn them if you want," Luna suggested, even though she knew it wasn't really an option. As much as Neville was delaying opening the results, she knew that he would have to find out the truth before he could truly move past recent events and on with his life.

"It's tempting," Neville muttered.

"No, it's not," Luna said with a slight chuckle as she kissed her husband's cheek. "You want to know the truth."

"But what if the truth changes everything?" Neville asked, looking at his wife with tear filled eyes. "What if I really am Bellatrix's son? I don't think I could live with that, Luna. It's bad enough what my gran's done, but Bellatrix has done much worse. She's got way more blood on her hands. I don't want to be part of her."

"No matter what happens, you're still the same person," Luna reassured her husband. "Nothing can change who you are, Neville. These results don't matter. You're still my husband, and I will always love you."

Thanking Luna for her support, Neville took a moment of comfort in his wife's embrace, before finally tearing open the envelope Hermione had left him. With a deep breath, he pulled out the results and found out for certain which witch had given birth to him.


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue.**

 **Seven Months Later.**

After an arduous twenty hours labour, Hermione was ready to leave St Mungo's with her son. Scorpius Malfoy had finally put in an appearance more than two weeks after he was due to be born. Hermione had already known from Ginny's experiences that due dates were just a guideline and babies tended to come when they were ready, not when they were predicted to arrive. Still, Hermione hadn't expected her son to be so late, nor had she expected the healers to just sit back and let nature take its course, but the medics had been adamant that interfering with the birth could harm her son's magic, and as long as they'd been sure he was doing fine, they hadn't wanted to intervene. Fortunately, Scorpius had finally gotten bored and decided to make his appearance in the world, albeit taking hours to arrive.

"Are we ready?" Draco asked his fiancée.

"Yes, let's go," Hermione replied as Draco carefully picked up the wicker carry-cot their son was nestled in. "Is everything sorted at home?"

"Everything was sorted weeks ago," Draco chuckled.

After finding out about Hermione's pregnancy the couple had started to look for a new house and they had moved into a large property in the countryside, a few miles away from Malfoy Manor three months previously. In that time they'd gotten the house exactly as they wanted, and their son had a gorgeous nursery situated next door to the master bedroom.

"Do you think Scorpius will like his room?" Hermione asked as they signed the discharge papers and headed towards the public fireplaces.

"He'll love it," Draco reassured Hermione. They'd decorated the room in a magical jungle theme and Narcissa had provided dozens of stuffed animals to match the theme.

"Maybe we should have gone with something less stimulating," Hermione mused. "What if he can't sleep with all the animals looking at him?"

"He's a baby, the animals are not going to bother him," Draco argued. "Besides, my nursery was decorated with dragons and they didn't scare me."

"I guess," Hermione said with a nod. She knew she was just being paranoid, but she just wanted everything to be perfect with her son's homecoming.

"Come on, let's go home," Draco urged his fiancée.

After checking that their son was still nestled soundly in his carry-cot, Hermione grabbed some floo powder and led the way home. Hermione arrived at home in the room they used for the floo, and throwing the bag she'd had with her at the hospital onto the floor, she impatiently waited for her fiancé and son to follow her home. Draco and Scorpius arrived seconds later and Draco suggested they went into the front room.

"Shouldn't we take Scorpius to see his new room?" Hermione asked.

"There's no rush," Draco replied. "Let's just relax for a bit."

Agreeing that she could do with taking the weight off her feet, Hermione followed Draco into the large living room and was taken aback to find a whole host of people waiting for them. All their friends were present, as well as most of the Weasleys and Draco's parents. The room was decorated with blue balloons and streamers, and there was a pile of presents in the corner of the room.

"What's all this?" Hermione gasped.

"We're welcoming Scorpius home," Harry answered.

"Can we see him, Aunt Hermione?" James asked, jumping up and down at his mother's side.

"Come on then," Hermione said with a smile as she plucked her son from his carry-cot. "Come and meet Scorpius."

James and Albus rushed over to meet Scorpius, followed by Teddy, who was enjoying his Easter break from Hogwarts. Once the children had met the newest Malfoy it was the adults turn to fuss over the new-born baby. As she settled down on the sofa, Hermione watched with a smile as her friends and family took it in turns to hold her son and fuss over him.

"He's lovely Hermione," Theo Nott said when it was his turn to hold Scorpius.

"Hey, I helped create him," Draco pouted. "It wasn't an immaculate conception you know."

"Yeah but he gets his good looks from Hermione," Blaise joked.

"And let's hope his brains," Theo added with a mischievous smirk.

As Draco began to playfully argue with his friends, Hermione turned her focus to where Neville and Luna were sitting. Luna had recently announced she was expecting, and Hermione knew the couple were looking forward to having their first child.

"How are things going?" Hermione asked her friends.

"This morning sickness is terrible," Luna confided. "How did you manage?"

"I can't say I was that affected," Hermione replied. "I only had a few bad mornings. I suffered more from swollen ankles, even now my feet are like puddings."

"But it's worth it, isn't it?" Luna asked, smiling at the sight of Ginny showing Scorpius to her one year old daughter, Lily.

"It is," Hermione confirmed with a smile. "I've only just had him, and already I can't imagine my life without him."

"Will you have more?" Neville asked.

"Maybe in time, but not just yet," Hermione laughed. "Do you want more than the one?"

"We'd like a big family," Neville answered with a slightly sad smile. "I just wish my Gran was here to see this."

Neville's gran had passed away the week before he and Luna had discovered their pregnancy. As Neville had predicated, she hadn't lasted long in Azkaban. After a speedy trial she'd been sentenced to life imprisonment, but she hadn't even lasted for six months. As devastated as Neville had been to lose his gran, Hermione also suspected he was relieved that he didn't have to watch her suffer in Azkaban.

"I'm sure she would be so proud of you, Neville," Hermione said.

"She was certainly proud of how you've handled things since her arrest," Luna said, squeezing her husband's arm.

It had been no surprise to anyone that the press has jumped on the claims that Bellatrix was Neville's mother once the truth about why Augusta had killed Cho emerged. For a while, Neville had maintained a dignified silence, but when the press refused to leave him and Luna alone, he'd decided to issue a statement. He also issued the result of the DNA test Hermione had ran for him, the one that revealed that Alice was indeed his biological mother and Bellatrix's claims were the result of her grief addled mind.

However, issuing the results hadn't completely stopped the gossips. Enough people believed the claims that no amount of proof to the contrary would change their minds. They argued that Augusta had killed Cho because she believed the claims, and if Neville's own family believed the claims, why shouldn't they. Those same people also claimed that Hermione had fixed the results for her friend, and even if she hadn't, they claimed that Neville had enough friends in the Ministry to pull off a cover up. Even now seven months after the event, there were still a portion of the wizarding world that was convinced that Neville was the son of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I just wish the gossips would go away," Neville sighed.

"At least they're not sitting outside of the house any more," Luna said. "I'm sure in another few months, they'll completely lose interest."

"I'm sure they will," Hermione agreed. "You can't let the gossips run your life, Neville. Everyone who matters knows the truth."

"I know you're right," Neville said with a nod. "Although isn't it funny to think that I could have been your cousin-in-law?"

"You know I've never thought of that," Hermione laughed. "No offence, but I'm not sure I could imagine you and Draco as cousins."

"None taken," Neville replied with a genuine smile. "I can't see it either. Can you imagine Lucius Malfoy being my uncle?"

Hermione chuckled at the thought as she let her eyes drift over to where Lucius was sitting with his wife. Narcissa now had Scorpius in her arms and the couple were cooing over their first born grandchild. Hermione knew that Narcissa was still trying to get her sister to see her, but Bellatrix was stubbornly refusing to see her sister. In Bellatrix's eyes the damage was done, and she wanted nothing more to do with her baby sister.

"I think it's time for a toast," Lucius announced, getting to his feet.

"Don't we need drinks to have a toast?" Blaise asked.

"I've got champagne in the kitchen," Lucius said. "Draco, go and get it, and grab some juice for the kids."

"Yes boss," Draco muttered as he dragged Blaise and Theo off to help him sort drinks for everyone.

Minutes later, all the adults had a glass of champagne, and the children all had juice.

"I want to propose a toast," Lucius announced. "First of all, to Hermione for giving Narcissa and I the perfect grandson."

"A grandson I help create," Draco pointed out again.

"Fine, to Draco and Hermione for giving us a grandson," Lucius corrected with an affectionate roll of his eyes. "But mainly I want you to raise your glasses to Scorpius, the newest Malfoy,"

"Scorpius, the newest Malfoy," everyone chorused as they raised their glass to the baby boy.

Celebrations continued for another couple of hours before people began to leave the new family to bond. Finally Hermione and Draco were alone with their son, and they took Scorpius up to get him settled in his nursery.

"I think he likes it," Hermione remarked as Draco settled Scorpius into his new crib.

"Of course he likes it," Draco replied. "It's his room."

"Thank you for today," Hermione said as she gave her fiancé a peck on the cheek. "You did organise everyone being here, didn't you?"

"Yeah, everyone wanted to meet Scorpius so I decided it would be better to do it all at once rather than having people trailing in and out for days," Draco replied. "Besides, this way we'll have the rest of the week to ourselves. Just the three of us."

"I'm looking forward to it," Hermione said, leaning against Draco as they stood watching Scorpius as he drifted off to sleep.

Now they had their son all that was left was for them to get married and then their lives would be complete. They both had their careers, with Hermione loving her new job as Head of the Department and Draco still enjoying his career as an Auror working with Harry and Ron. They had a lovely new house, which was large enough for them to have another couple of children if they wanted. And finally, they had Scorpius, who one day would be there to witness his parents announce their love to the world and get married.

 **The End.**

* * *

 **A/N – I want to thank people for reading this story, and a special thanks for the people who took the time to leave me a review. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if I can find the right story, I might visit this universe again in the future. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with a new story on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so until then thanks again and I'll be back soon.**


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